Animals

The southeast Kansas zoo had a surprise in store for them when one of their dogs chose to adopt three tiger cubs that were born over the weekend. The owner of the park - Tom Harvey - said that when the cubs were born the mother had problems with them and stopped caring for them altogether a day later.

While the cubs were trying to find their mother - who was ignoring them - the golden retriever took them in. Harvey said it’s unusual for dogs to care for tiger cubs, but it does happen. He said he has seen reports of pigs nursing cubs in China, and he actually got the golden retriever after his wife saw television accounts of dogs caring for tiger cubs.

Puppies take about the same amount of time as tiger cubs to develop, and Harvey said the adoptive mother just recently weaned her own puppies. “The timing couldn’t have been any better,” he said. The mother doesn’t know the difference, Harvey said. He said the adopted mother licks, cleans and feeds the cubs.