A tiger park near Harbin city has come to the defence of its "chubby" tigers by posting photos of the animals looking considerably slimmer, reported NetEase website.

Adding that the animals are indeed still majestic-looking, the Siberian Tiger Park blamed camera angles for making the tigers look chubby.

It even challenged people to see the tigers for themselves at the park in China's northernmost Heilongjiang province.

NetEase shared three photos of the trim tigers on Friday (Feb 10).

The photos of the overweight-looking tigers had gone viral when they were first posted on Sina Weibo last Thursday (Feb 2).

"Admit it, this is you after Chinese New Year," said the post.

There were various theories about the tigers' healthy appearance.

Some people wondered if the animals were overfed.

A South China Morning Post report on Tuesday (Feb 7) said that the feline creatures eat more during winters to keep the cold away, while Chinese newspaper Harbin Daily reported that the tigers had gained weight after 2010 with the increase in zoo visitors, who liked to feed the tigers.