Snow, white tiger cubs nursed by dog
Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:50a.m.
Information about white tigers: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/white_tigers.htm and
http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2010/02/white-tigers-conserving-misery/
Four tiger cubs are being nursed and raised by an adoptive canine mother in Weihai city in China’s eastern Shandong province, according to state media.
The quadruplets, born at the Xixiakou Wild Animal Preserve, are a rare occurrence within the white tiger species, which usually gives birth to one or two cubs per litter.
As a result of the larger litter, the cubs, three snow tigers and one white tiger, were abandoned by their natural birth mother and left to starve.
The reserve staff brought the cubs to the nursery and provided a dog to nurse the cubs along with her two biological puppies.
Inclined by a maternal instinct, the dog quickly adopted the cubs as her own, according to state television CCTV.
The puppies and tiger cubs sleep and nurse together as brothers and sisters, despite the stark difference of species and appearance, it said.
Snow tigers are a variation of the white tiger breed and they are born with white fur and blue eyes.
These tigers are much rarer than their white tiger counterparts, with only 200 left in the world.
Reuters
http://www.3news.co.nz/Snow-white-tiger-cubs-nursed-by-dog/tabid/417/articleID/178503/Default.aspx
Filed under: Captive Tigers, White Tigers
