(Ecns.cn) -- A South China tiger in the Chongqing City Zoo gave birth to a cub on July 27, making it the third one in a single year. The baby tiger is called Lele, and is the 103rd South China tiger bred in captivity.
Lele, a male, was 34 centimeters long and weighed 986 grams at birth. Seven days after birth, Lele still has not opened his eyes and cannot stand by himself. But he is now able to crawl around and make small sounds like a cat's meow.
According to the breeder, Lele sleeps about 20 hours every day. Apart from sleep, the only thing he does is have meals. However, the mother tiger has not been caring for the baby, so the breeder has to use dog formula imported from the US to feed him. In the beginning, Lele did not know how to suck milk from the bottle, so the breeder used a syringe. But later little Lele mastered the skill of using a bottle.
Teng Mingsheng, Lele's male nanny revealed that the mother tiger has borne three babies in one year, but she has not taken care of any of them. She gave birth to two other cubs on September 3, 2010 and January 16, 2011. This is a very productive record for a South China tiger because in the wild they usually only give birth every two to three years.
Teng explained that this mother tiger was bred in captivity so she does not have any of the skills to feed her baby. When she bore the first baby last year, she did not show any interest or concern. At the second birth, she even bit the baby tiger and held her in her mouth. Now for the third time, she only stayed beside Lele for two hours. When the breeder took Lele from the cage, she did not react or try to protect her baby.
Regarding this issue, Teng said that they will continue to create a wild environment for the South China tigers, in order to help them regain their natural instincts.
