Sumatran cubs Spot and Stripe found a home with animal expert and zoo keeper Giles Clark after they were born at the Australia Zoo in Queensland.
There are less than 500 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, so zoo breeding programmes are essential in preserving the species.
A third of Sumatran cubs born in captivity don't make it to adulthood, so to ensure their survival, Giles agreed to give them round the clock care at home for the first few months of their lives.
It makes for an unusual family album, which can be seen here for the first time.
From riding a skateboard to playing with trucks in a sandpit, Spot and Stripe adapted to a remarkably human lifestyle during their time living with the Clarks.
They had their own purpose-built pool for when their thick coats made the heat unbearable, while sofas and beds became free-range for a sleepy cub wanting a cuddle with Mr Clark’s children: Alicia, 16, and Kynan, eight.
And they would even climb on to their beds where they would blend in among the soft toys.
Mr Clark, 36, a zookeeper and tiger enthusiast and a ‘tiger daddy’ according to his wife Ceri, 37, grew up in Middlesex, England.
He fell in love with the big cat species as a 16-year-old boy during a trip to a British zoo. Now, having followed his dream to Australia, the real-life Tiger Man works at Australia Zoo, where can be found playing with fully-grown adult big cats or taking them on walks in the nearby bush.
Mr Clark believes that encouraging humans to interact with wild animals will make them more likely to want to help save rare species from extinction.
And so naturally, when resident tiger Kaitlin gave birth to her cubs it was Mr Clark who volunteered to take two of them home.
Spot and Stripe, so called because of their markings, are two of the most critically endangered tigers in the world.
But safely within the walls of the Clarks' home, they quickly settled in, forming close bonds with the family and exploring the house and its surroundings like a pair of curious toddlers.
Mr Clark had to take on the role of their mother and provide round-the-clock care for his charges.
He said: ‘As with any baby, I had to make sure that everything was washed and sterile. And not just bottles – with the number of towels you’re going through, it felt like the washing machine was going constantly. I was more exhausted than when my son was a baby.
'Naturally mum would lick them to stimulate them to go to the toilet, so I had to replicate that with my hand. You never, ever forget in those first couple of months how dependent they are. Everything you do has an impact on them.'
The unique family set-up mirrors that depicted in the children's book The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr, which is about a girl called Sophie, her mother, and a tiger who interrupts their afternoon tea.
Spot and Stripe and the Clark appear in a new BBC2 documentary called Tigers About the House that airs tonight on BBC2. It follows their remarkable upbringing at Mr Clark's suburban Australian home, which is already rather full with two children, two dogs - Ruby, a black Labrador cross and a caramel-coloured mastiff cross named Caesar - and Mrs Snakey, a pet snake.
He told the Radio Times: 'By forming this relationship - I call it a friendship - with our animals, we're able to give them a much better quality of life. They’re not stressed or frustrated like tigers you might see in other facilities.
'We do a variety of things with our cats that normally just wouldn’t be possible in captivity. We even play with them in a purpose-built pool. We can only do that by having a really strong bond, and you need to establish that when they're very little.'
There are less than 500 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, so zoo breeding programmes are essential in preserving the species.
A third of Sumatran cubs born in captivity don't make it to adulthood, so to ensure their survival, Giles agreed to give them round the clock care at home for the first few months of their lives.
It makes for an unusual family album, which can be seen here for the first time.
From riding a skateboard to playing with trucks in a sandpit, Spot and Stripe adapted to a remarkably human lifestyle during their time living with the Clarks.
They had their own purpose-built pool for when their thick coats made the heat unbearable, while sofas and beds became free-range for a sleepy cub wanting a cuddle with Mr Clark’s children: Alicia, 16, and Kynan, eight.
And they would even climb on to their beds where they would blend in among the soft toys.
Mr Clark, 36, a zookeeper and tiger enthusiast and a ‘tiger daddy’ according to his wife Ceri, 37, grew up in Middlesex, England.
He fell in love with the big cat species as a 16-year-old boy during a trip to a British zoo. Now, having followed his dream to Australia, the real-life Tiger Man works at Australia Zoo, where can be found playing with fully-grown adult big cats or taking them on walks in the nearby bush.
Mr Clark believes that encouraging humans to interact with wild animals will make them more likely to want to help save rare species from extinction.
And so naturally, when resident tiger Kaitlin gave birth to her cubs it was Mr Clark who volunteered to take two of them home.
Spot and Stripe, so called because of their markings, are two of the most critically endangered tigers in the world.
But safely within the walls of the Clarks' home, they quickly settled in, forming close bonds with the family and exploring the house and its surroundings like a pair of curious toddlers.
Mr Clark had to take on the role of their mother and provide round-the-clock care for his charges.
He said: ‘As with any baby, I had to make sure that everything was washed and sterile. And not just bottles – with the number of towels you’re going through, it felt like the washing machine was going constantly. I was more exhausted than when my son was a baby.
'Naturally mum would lick them to stimulate them to go to the toilet, so I had to replicate that with my hand. You never, ever forget in those first couple of months how dependent they are. Everything you do has an impact on them.'
The unique family set-up mirrors that depicted in the children's book The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr, which is about a girl called Sophie, her mother, and a tiger who interrupts their afternoon tea.
Spot and Stripe and the Clark appear in a new BBC2 documentary called Tigers About the House that airs tonight on BBC2. It follows their remarkable upbringing at Mr Clark's suburban Australian home, which is already rather full with two children, two dogs - Ruby, a black Labrador cross and a caramel-coloured mastiff cross named Caesar - and Mrs Snakey, a pet snake.
He told the Radio Times: 'By forming this relationship - I call it a friendship - with our animals, we're able to give them a much better quality of life. They’re not stressed or frustrated like tigers you might see in other facilities.
'We do a variety of things with our cats that normally just wouldn’t be possible in captivity. We even play with them in a purpose-built pool. We can only do that by having a really strong bond, and you need to establish that when they're very little.'
Music: Infados by Kevin MacLeod
Source : DailyMail , BBC2
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