Tiger Cubs Adopted, Nursed By Dog

[matcom]

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Amur tiger cubs rejected by their mother have been adopted by a dog whose owner answered a Russian zoo's appeal for a foster parent.

First Channel television Saturday showed the two cubs being breast fed by a brown and black mongrel called Naida, whose own puppy looked content to share her milk with its new siblings.

"Tiger cubs weigh more than a kilogram at birth and it is clear that a cat, because of its size, could not produce enough milk to allow the cubs to grow properly," Yuri Makhrov, deputy director of Siberia's Krasnoyarsk zoo, told the channel.

The cubs were gaining 80 grams (2.8 ounces) a day.

Amur tigers are the largest cat species in the world, and around 400 still live in the wild in Russia's Far East. When the tiger cubs grow up, they could weigh up to 450 kg (1,000 lb) and measure up to three meters (10 ft).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050620/od_nm/russia_tiger_dc