Saturday, November 24, 2012

Dog adopts and nurses tiger cubs

A White Swiss Shepherd Dog is proving a life saver after she adopted three tiger cubs abandoned by their mother at a zoo in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.



The snow white hound named Tally is breastfeeding the tiny trio of tigers after the mother Bagheera refused to feed them herself. Keepers said the dog was producing milk for the cubs, two males and a female that were born in October, even though her own puppies have not yet been born.

They are feeding her a high protein food to make sure she has enough milk for them all. It is not the first time the tiger mum has abandoned her cubs at the zoo. This time around they had Tally lined up, and zoo spokesperson Victoria Kudlaeva said they were surprised that she had adopted the three so quickly.


YouTube link.

The cubs are also being fed goat's milk as an additional supplement. The female has been named after her adopted mum Tally - and the zoo is holding a contest to name the two males. And althought the cubs have sharper claws than puppies they have learned not to annoy their adopted mum - who nudges them away with her nose when they start to scratch or bite.

No comments: