Keepers and volunteers at a big cat centre are celebrating the birth of two Sumatran tiger cubs.

The male cubs are now eight weeks old and bosses at at the Wildlife Heritage Foundation at Smarden are so pleased with their progress that we can now announce the good news.

Born on July 27, the cubs have been named Asu and Bawa after small Sumatran islands off the island of Nias, which is the cubs’ dad’s name.

The cubs are the first successfully bred big cats at the centre and are part of the European Rare Species Breeding Program .

Less than 300 Sumatran tigers are thought to exist in the wild.

Becky Hall, senior keeper,

said: “We are so proud.

“It’s really amazing to be part of this as they are the rarest tiger on the planet.”

The WHF is a charity and although the centre is not open to the public, it runs a series of photography workshops and experiences where people can be a keeper for a day.