Two tiger cubs made their public debut to local media at Beardsley Zoo on Thursday in Bridgeport.

The zoo has been caring for the Amur tiger cubs for the past month and a half, and on Thursday reporters got a first-hand look at them.

Both female cubs, Zeya and Reka, are being raised by the zoo staff after their mother rejected them, and the crew says it is crucial that they survive because the tigers are an endangered species.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS OF THE TIGER CUBS
 

“This was a big deal for us and a big deal for the population,” says the zoo's deputy director Don Goff. “Not a lot of births happen in a given year so every one of those births is significant for the population.”

The zoo says they are doing all the duties that their mom would have been doings like feeding them multiple times day and night, keeping them warm and helping them use the bathroom.

Goff says the cubs will remain at the zoo’s health care center for the next two months and will be on exhibit this spring.