JURQUES (France), June 4: Four white lion cubs, whose birth last month in a French zoo provided a welcome boost for the species whose population is teetering at about 30 worldwide, have died, the zoo said on Monday.

The cubs were open to infection because they were bottle fed and had not been immunised by the milk of their mother, who had rejected them, said officials at Jurques zoo in western France.

The one male and three female cubs, white as snow and weighing about 1.5 kilos, were separated from their mother after their birth on May 20 because she appeared to lack parenting skills.

The 30-odd white lions in the world today live in captivity in zoos or game reserves, representing all that is left of a species that originated in South Africa.--AFP