Manadatory Credit: Photo by Quirky China News / Rex Features (1199255c) A newborn tigon Alsatian acts as surrogate mother to five new-born tigons, Wuqiao Acrobatics Performance Zoo, Hebei province, China - 22 Jun 2010 An African lion in a China zoo gave birth to five tigons - the resultant offspring after mating between a tiger and a lioness - and the zoo found a surrogate Alsatian mother to nurse the five cubs and ensure their survival. Wuqiao Acrobatics Performance Zoo in China's Hebei province said African Lioness, Di Di, gave birth to a litter of 5: 3 females and 2 males. The 5 newborn tigons have a lion's head, but their bodies have tiger stripes. It is rare for a male tiger to mate with a female lion and tigons usually have a minimal rate of survival. As lioness Di Di didn't have enough milk to feed her cubs, the zoo picked Mao Mao, a German Shepherd dog, to act as surrogate mother. The zoo said the father, Huan Huan, a Siberian tiger from northeast China, fell in love with Di Di during the daily show performances. "After performing together for several months, they developed a chemistry," said a spokesman. In a month the cubs be viewable to the public, while keepers think up names for the tigon cubs.