Unlikely furry friends: tiger, lion and hyena cubs play with puppies at Chinese zoo

Record ID: 1354348

  • Title: Unlikely furry friends: tiger, lion and hyena cubs play with puppies at Chinese zoo
  • Date: 30th August 2018
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (AUGUST 30, 2018) (REUTERS) ANIMAL NURSERY WORKER AT BEIJING WILDLIFE PARK WANG SHUO WITH CUBS WHITE TIGER CUB MOVING AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) ANIMAL NURSERY WORKER AT BEIJING WILDLIFE PARK, WANG SHUO, SAYING: "It is a coincidence, mainly because it's our first time to breed white tigers. And the mother white tiger was unwilling to raise her first brood of baby tiger, so we decided to use the artificial feeding method. As we have never tried nurturing white tigers, in order to guarantee the survival rate, we chose a female golden retriever to feed the white tiger cub. We found a golden retriever who just gave birth to a brood of puppies to nurse (the white tiger cub). Soon after, we had a Siberian tiger, an African lion and spotted hyenas come one after another and formed this strange combination." WHITE TIGER CUB WALKING FOLLOWED BY SIBERIAN TIGER CUB/SPOTTED HYENA CUB WALKING IN FRONT OF THEM GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPY DRIVING AWAY SIBERIAN TIGER CUB (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) ANIMAL NURSERY WORKER AT BEIJING WILDLIFE PARK, WANG SHUO, SAYING: "As we only have one white tiger cub, at the very beginning, it couldn't finish the milk from the mother golden retriever. So we kept two golden retriever puppies from the mother and raised them with the cubs together. Now they (puppies and cubs) are getting along very well, so we did not send the puppies back with their mother." GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPY APPROACHING CAMERA VISITORS WATCHING GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPIES IN ENCLOSURE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 28-YEAR-OLD ACCOUNTANT, BEIJING WILD LIFE PARK VISITOR, MENG YING, SAYING: "I think (puppies playing with cubs) is incredible. I thought if these animals live together scenes would be bloody but as we can see, they are playing and growing together in harmony. I realised animals and human beings are similar, we all have feelings." VARIOUS OF PARK VISITOR ZHANG LIN TAKING PICTURES WITH MOBILE PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 43-YEAR-OLD BEIJING WILD LIFE PARK VISITOR, ZHANG LIN, SAYING: "I used to think that tigers, dogs and spotted hyenas were bred and reared separately. I think that this kind of phenomenon makes me realise that actually, in the animal kingdom when they are young they are very friendly with each other and kind of have a very close relationship. Perhaps it's only after they grow up that they'll have this sense of distance." VARIOUS OF CHINESE RURAL DOG LIVING WITH SIBERIAN TIGER AND WHITE LION IN BEIJING WILDLIFE PARK VISITORS LOOKING AT ANIMALS
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2018 12:07
  • Keywords: China cub tiger lion abandoned infant animal white tiger Beijing Wildlife Park zoo puppy
  • Location: BEIJING, CHINA
  • City: BEIJING, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA0038VDPE1L
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Tiger, lion and hyena cubs are living and playing alongside golden retriever pups at a zoo in Beijing, with a number of the animals being fed by the puppies' mother.
    Zookeepers at Beijing Wildlife Park introduced two Siberian tigers, one white tiger, two spotted hyenas and an African lion to the golden retriever mother after their own mothers refused to feed them.
    It is the first time the zoo has bred white tigers.
    The park said it was relatively common to have lions and tigers raised together but to have five different species in one room is rare.
    The cubs and puppies living together are about two months old and will be separated when they reach three months, although one zookeeper said they could be kept together if they keep interacting positively.
    The zoo already has a mixed species enclosure with a Chinese rural dog, a Siberian tiger and a white lion living together in perfect harmony for the past four years.
    Raising abandoned infant animals in the same place is a common practice of the park in order to improve their survival rate.
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