Three female cubs and one male were born on May 20 to the zoo's adult lion Nyala, adding to the roughly 30 white lions that live in captivity worldwide.

The cubs had to be taken from their mother at birth because she showed a lack of parenting skills, zoo officials said.

The four cubs, each weighing in at 3.3 pounds (1.5 kilograms), "are in full health, and we are thrilled," Bernadette Oury, director of the Jurques Zoological Park, told the AFP news service.

White lions, which originated in South Africa, are not a separate species. The unusual animals are the result of a recessive gene that grants them snowy white coats instead of the normal golden fur.

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