West Midlands Safari Park in Worcestershire has turned to CCTV to monitor the birth of two rare White Bengal tiger cubs at its £250,000 maternity facility.
Successful breeding in captivity of White Bengal tigers is essential as they have been extinct in the wild for over 50 years. Wednesbury-based Richards CCTV, were therefore asked to install a system that would allow keepers to closely observe and record the progress of mother to be Tikva and the subsequent birth of the two cubs – one male, one female. Richards CCTV recommended and later installed two day/night cameras, made by SANYO, which provide high resolution colour images during the day but switch to black and white images at night when the lighting levels are low, the makers report.
What they say
Richards CCTV’s Technical Manager, Adrian Luckman said: "We wanted to ensure that we captured images of best possible quality. We chose the SANYO VCC-4594P cameras because they offer 520TV lines of resolution, the highest yet available. The cameras also have ‘intelligent’ backlight compensation providing a clear view of off centre and moving objects and were therefore ideal for this environment."
The images were recorded on 520 TV lines digital video recorder also from SANYO. Keepers were delighted when the two tiger cubs were born in May 2004. Wendy Jackson of West Midlands Safari Park said: "The installation of the equipment proved crucial to the survival of the two cubs. It allowed the keepers to monitor the activities of Tikva and the cubs 24 hours a day and they were able to react quickly to any difficulties. As a result the cubs are now thriving and drawing in large admiring crowds."
