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NANJING, Jiangsu Province (China) — Here's a
riddle:
Q:
What do you get when you cross a lion with a goat?
A.
You'd better get a new goat.
OK, here's a better one:
Q: What do you get when you cross a lion with a tiger?
A: A
puppy. Read on...
At Hongshan
Zoological Gardens in Nanjing, a tiger-lion hybrid cub—the first of
its kind to be born in captivity in China—is being nursed and raised by
a dog, the state media reported today.
The report says that the 1.1 kg cub was born with a lion body and tiger
coloring. Lions and tigers are raised together due to space
limitations at the Hongshan zoo, and while the two species generally do
not intermingle, it seems that "Tiantian" the lioness and "Tongtong"
the tiger hit it off pretty well earlier this year.
The result, 112 days later, was a bouncing baby beast whose appearance
so confused its inexperienced mother that the lioness ran off leaving her hungry
offspring alone eight hours after its birth. Zoo officials decided
to introduce the cub to a female black dog who eagerly assumed the
motherly role. The pooch now feeds the tiger-lion
once every two hours, according to Xinhua
News, "occasionally stopping to groom her adopted
'puppy'."
Experts say that it is uncertain whether the cub can survive and it is
being kept under observation. However, it was last reported that the
cub is in good condition and now weighs 1.2 kg.
...which brings us to our final riddle:
Q.
What do you feed a lion/tiger/dog for breakfast?
A.
Anything she wants.
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Copycat Syndrome
BEIJING (China) — This isn't the
first case of dog-adopts-cub. Believe me, I'm not lion.
"Don't play with your food."
A lion cub and a sibling puppy gather round the doghouse under the
watchful eye of Momma Labrador. No one is sure of what behavioral
effects this bizarre interaction could have on the young lion, but one
thing's for certain: the neighborhood postal carriers are terrified.
(Photo: Gunag Niu / Reuters)
At another zoo about 800 miles north of Hongshan, on the outskirts of Beijing,
another cub is settling in comfortably with a surrogate canine family (is
that what you'd call a "false pride"?). According to an Aug. 15 Reuters
report, a three-month-old lion is doing well at Badaling Safari Animal World,
having been adopted by a Labrador Retriever. The young lion's
biological mother did not have enough milk to feed all of her cubs, so
Animal World officials put the two animals together.
Once again, officials at the wildlife park are unsure of how long and
how effectively a dog can nurture and raise a lion. But for the time
being, all seems well. That is ...safari so good.
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