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 Comforting arms: Anjna the chimpanzee plays with three-week-old tiger cub Mitra, who was separated from his real mum after a hurricane. Picture: www.barcroftpacific.com
By Angela Saurine
October 13, 2008
source: The Daily Telegraph
THEY may not be related by blood but orphaned tiger cub Mitra loves to monkey around with his unlikely surrogate mum.
Mitra and sibling Shiva were separated from their mother during Hurricane Hanna in the US last month.
Now the three-week-old white tiger cubs have found comfort in the arms of caring chimpanzee Anjna.
While they would be unlikely companions out in the wild, in the safety of The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species in South Carolina they have formed a strong bond.
"She gives them a bottle, lies with them and acts as a surrogate mother," TIGERS founder Dr Bhagavan Antle said. Dr Antle said the sanctuary in which the tiger cubs lived was flooded in the hurricane and they had to be moved into a house.
When their mother became distressed, staff decided to separate them for their own safety.
The cubs were placed in the care of infant animal care giver China York and her chimpanzee companion, Anjna. "Anjna has been with China side by side ever since she was born and has joined her in caring and raising baby animals," Dr Antle said.
"She has just finished raising four lions and they were inseparable. She is a great assistant."
TIGERS is a wildlife organisation dedicated to promoting conservation.
source: The Daily Telegraph
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