Bengali tiger born at zoo-Daily News

[indunil]

The Bengali tiger born last week at the Dehiwala Zoo died yesterday.

A postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of the death. Sources said the animal might have died due to its mother not feeding it.

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Tiger cub gets cuddly without mothers warmth

The six-days old Bengal tiger cub, that was rejected by the mother, atthe Zoological Gardens, Dehiwela, is now in good health and adoptingto the environment without the mother’s warmth.

Dr. Jagath Jayasekara said a specially trained caretaker has beenassigned to look after the cub and it is now gaining weight.Fullest care is given to the cub under the guidance of EconomicDevelopment Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

Born in October 22, the three-year-old tiger mother had refused tofeed the cub. The public is not allowed to see the cub, which is fedon milk formula for cat species.

Sunday Observer report

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Want to see it?

The public can see the Bengali tiger cub tomorrow from 11 to 11.30 am

A Bengali tiger cub was born at the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens last Friday around 7.30 am. A female tiger among the three brought to the country under an animal exchange program with Shiyenjiyen Safari Gardens in China is the cub’s mother.

National Zoological Gardens Department Director Bashwara Senanka Gunaratne said that the tigress is refusing to feed the cub and as a result they are feeding it with prepared milk. Three cubs born in June died.

According to Gunaratne refusing to feed cubs is a natural incident in a zoological garden environment. Various strategies were taken to provide incentives to the tigress to feed its cub and build a close relationship between the mother and her cub. “However, the tigress continues to reject the cub. Therefore the cub is placed under special care to ensure its survival. The milk is provided to the cub according to a special menu. The Department hopes to allow the media and spectators to see the cub on October 26 from 11 to 11.30am,” he said