butterflywing

In a zoo in California , a mother tiger gave birth

to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs.

Unfortunately,
Due to complications in the pregnancy,

the cubs were born prematurely

and due to their tiny size,

they died shortly after birth.

The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery,

suddenly started to decline in health,
Although physically she was fine.

The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter

had caused the tigress to fall into a depression.

The doctors decided

that if the tigress could surrogate

another mother's cubs,

perhaps she would improve.

After checking with many other zoos across the country,
the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs

of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother..

The veterinarians decided to try something

that had never been tried in a zoo environment.

Sometimes a mother of one species

will take on the care of a different species.

The only orphans' that could be found quickly,

were a litter of weanling pigs.???

The zoo keepers and vets

wrapped the piglets in tiger skin

and placed the babies around the mother tiger...

Would they become cubs or pork chops?


Take a look...you won't believe your eyes

butterflywing

pork chops

littlehud

That is so touching. I'm sure sometimes she looks at them and thinks "they must take after their father because they don't look like my side of the family." :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

butterflywing

she must also be wondering where the extra 2 came from.

and will they all become multi-lingual?

Jim's Gem

That's precious!!!

cjomomma

So amazing! We don't stop to think that animals can suffer from depression like we can. The piggies are so cute in their tiger outfits.

sueisallaboutquilts

Sooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bluelady

Cute picture, but the story isn't really what happened.
Per snopes.com: The images displayed above were taken in 2004 at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand. Although the Sriracha Tiger Zoo hosts one of the world's most successful tiger breeding programs, unlike most western zoos it also offers circus- and carnival-like shows, exhibits, and interactions, including (as evidenced here) the mixture of adults and young of quite different species in the same enclosures.
In one glass room, a farrowing crate entombed a pig who, lying on her side, nourished both her piglets and tiger cubs. Across the hall, another glass room housed a female tiger, who fed piglets adorned in tiger-print costumes. This incongruous display was replicated elsewhere, where enclosures housed tigers, pigs, and dogs together.

In another area, a visitor could feed milk to a young tiger resting on his or her lap — a young tiger still in possession of his claws ... There was a tiger circus, not dissimilar from a circus anywhere else: tigers leaping through rings of fire, walking across a double tightrope, parading around the ring on hind legs, and riding around on the back of the horse.
The mixture of tiger and piglets depicted in the images above therefore was not something undertaken for functional reasons, but rather it's a common form of visual entertainment provided by the zoo for the amusement of its visitors. According to the Pattaya Mail, these tiger-pig nursing relationships have also been reciprocated to the extent that the mother tiger shown suckling piglets was herself nursed by a sow:


I often double check internet stories at snopes.com

butterflywing

thanks for sharing

Ramona Byrd

I've been hearing that SNOPES itself is coming under investigation, they seem to be leaning in the wrong ways politically. They seem to be a man and his Canadian wife living in lower California, doing all this. No mention of where their living expenses come from, which in itself makes this cynical person suspicious of everything they say. Maybe I should take time to check THAT out on other places~~

But the mother instinct really does kick in at times. Women have been adopting babies and children since time began, and will continue this to satisfy the "Mother" in us.