I just cannot resist baby animals

Given my last post about the dog nursing tiger triplets I thought I’d share an older story of tiger and orangutan babies, both endangered species, sharing nursery time at the Taman Safari zoo.

While I so enjoy these photos, it makes me realize how distressing it is that people from varying cultures are unable to co-exist.

 

 

Tiger and orangutan babies become playmates at Indonesian zoo
By Niniek Karmini, ASSOCIATED PRESS, February 28, 2007

After being abandoned by their mothers shortly after birth, the four play fight, nipping and teasing each other, and cuddling up for a shared nap when they are worn out. “This is unusual and would never happen in the wild,” said zoo keeper Sri Suwarni, bottle-feeding a baby chimp on Wednesday. “Like human babies, they only want to play.”

The exceptional friendship will likely be short-lived, said veterinarian Retno Sudarwati, because as the animals grow up their natural survival instincts will kick in. “When the time comes, they will have to be separated. It’s sad, but we cant’ change their natural behavior,” she said. “Tigers start eating meat when they are three months old.”

Click here to see a video clip of the 4 babies together.

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Dog nurses Tiger triplets at China zoo

 

Dog nurses Tiger triplets at China zoo
Associated Press

BEIJING — It’s a dog’s life for three newborn tiger triplets in eastern China. The cubs, whom officials at the Jinan Paomaling Wild Animal World in Shandong province are so far just calling “One,” “Two” and “Three,” have been nursed by a dog since they were rejected by their tiger mother shortly after birth, said Paomaling manager Chen Yucai.

The trio’s adoptive mother, a mixed breed farm dog called “Huani,” is expected to nurse them for about a month or until their appetites outpace her supply, Chen said.

Chen said it is common for Chinese zoos to use surrogate dog mothers to nurse rejected tiger cubs and that Huani has nursed tigers before.

Bob Barker’s Golden Retriever Mix Jessie

 

We always knew Bob Barker was an animal lover as he always concludes his show, The Price is Right, with the request for folks to remember to spay and neuter. But, we just found out his current animal companion is a rescue Golden Retriever/Chow mix named Jessie.

Bob will be providing much for our beloved companions as they will be the recipients of his huge estate.

Because he and Dorothy Jo “never got around” to having children of their own, animals will be the chief beneficiaries of his multimillion-dollar estate. His DJ&T Foundation (named after Dorothy Jo and his mother, Tilly) offers grants to spay/neutering clinics in all 50 states.

“The major part of my estate will go to that,” he says. “I’m also helping some of the finest law schools in the country.” His endowment for animal rights law is already in place at Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Duke, Northwestern, UCLA and Stanford.