Mother tiger lions

A private zoo in Taiwan has just witnessed the birth of tiger lions - whose father is a lion and his mother is a tiger.

The zoo has been fined for bred violating Taiwan's regulations on animal conservation, island officials said today.

Two new hybrid animals born.Photo: AFP

According to AFP , three tiger lions were born on Sunday at the Snake King Education Farm World, but one of the three children died shortly after birth.

"The pregnancy of the tiger, I was completely surprised," said the zoo owner, Mr. Huang Kuo-nan.

"Lions and tigers have been caged together since they were young, for 6 years now," Huang added, "and nothing happened . "

However, the Tainan government said Mr. Huang would be fined 50,000 yuan (US $ 1,760) for feeding wild animals without permission from the authorities.

According to Taiwan's Apple Daily , there are about 10 tiger lions in the world, they are much bigger than purebred lions.