After birth, tiger cubs are completely dependent on their mothers for about six months. Then they typically spend about two to two and a half years with their mother learning to hunt and perfecting their survival skills.

So when a mother rejected her two newborn white Bengal tigers immediately after birth at the Safaripark Zoo Stukenbrock in Germany, the zoo staff knew they were going to need constant care to make sure they survived.

The staff worked around the clock to bottle feed the cubs named Peach and Pearl and massage them but knew they would need a ‘parent’ to bond with them and nurture them. Luckily, a male dog named Leon stepped up to care for them like his own.

The new ‘family’ is currently staying at zookeeper Jeannette Wurms’s living room until the cubs gain strength, but Leon, who often helps to look after babies in need at the zoo, has been providing the crucial care and cuddles that human caregivers just can’t provide.

“The hope [is] that these two white tiger babies will become two queens of the jungle,” the zoo wrote in a post on their website. “Now the little tigers are lovingly hand-fed, cuddled and massaged.”

Watch the entire video below to see the incredible bond between this ‘dad’ and his babies.

Can you believe this dog has taken these orphaned tiger cubs in as his own? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.

[Featured image: Safaripark Zoo Stukenbrock]