Kent Tigers Keeping Cool

14 July 2010, 00:00

Heart's been sent pictures of the Tigers at Howletts Wild Animal Park near Canterbury keeping cool during the recent hot weather.

They made the most of the pools in their enclosure and were seen splashing around as temperatures reached almost 32C.

The three young Siberian tigers, two brothers Altay and Altai, and their sister Sayan, were born at the park in august 2008. Siberian tigers are endangered.

Park photographer Dave Rolfe, who was lucky enough to photograph the trio, has been photographing the animals at Howletts Wild Animal Park and its sister park Port Lympne for over 25 years.

He commented:

"This particular tiger enclosure has large glass panels that overlook the pool which make it much easier to photograph them.

"Tigers are one of the only cats that enjoy being in water and the Siberians often use the pools in their enclosures. On this occasion, their head Keeper Jim Vassie was throwing bits of meat over into the pool to make them work for their food a little more than usual and they were soon making a bit of a game of running in and out of the water.

"It has been a privilege to get to know and photograph the animals at Howletts and Port Lympne over the years, some of which are among the rarest and most endangered in the world, and moments like these still take my breath away."