Nizhny Novgorod: A tiny tiger who is being hand-reared by zookeepers in Russia has found a canine companion.
This little tiger cub is the star of Madagascar zoo in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod.
The cub and his two brothers were born in April but were rejected by their mother Shaherizad.
Since then this little guy has been fed and petted over by the zoo's keepers.
Its been a demanding job says zoo worker Olga Prokhorova.
"It was very difficult especially during the first weeks when he was taken away from the mother because he does not understand why there is no mother's milk, but instead there is goat's milk."
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The tiger cubs were given a special formula based on goat's milk, vitamins, and probiotics.
Two of the cubs have already been sold to other zoos, leaving this little one on his own.
Little pieces of meat have been introduced to his diet, but he is still heavily dependant on milk.
Regular visits to the zoo vet are a part of life, as she monitors his health closely.
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"Great. His condition is very good, his temperature is normal, the mucus membrane is good, there is no problem with eyes. A healthy baby, ready to eat declares vet Alexandra Elovskova after a recent check-up."
He may be missing his siblings, but the little feline has a canine companion.
The zoo's dog Lilu has developed a close bond with the cub and visitors can watch them play together as zoo manager Ekaterina Sushenkova explains, "This is our first experiment of this kind - we have a dog, she is very loyal to kittens and as an experiment, we have brought her into the cage with tiger cubs, and it so she looked after them when we took the tiger cubs for a walk."
"This is normal practice for many zoos to sell offsprings... We try to reassign tigers so that there is a further opportunity to track their fate and get photo reports," she adds when questioned about the sale of the other cubs.
The remaining tiger cub will also be sold to another zoo soon.
(AP)
