A tiger and her piglets

**muchlove** · March 27th, 2006, 12:40 AM

Sai Mai, a 26-month-old female tiger, plays with baby pigs at a zoo in Thailand's Chonburi province, 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Bangkok, on May 7, 2004. The Royal Bengali tigress was born in captivity and breast-fed by a female pig for four months after her birth.

A piglet sleeps on a tiger at Siracha zoo.

A tiger cub suckles from a sow on 2, July 2004. The zoo is trying to boost visitor numbers by teaching domestic animals such as pigs, and wild animals such as tigers, to live together in harmony from an early age.

The zoo's website.

**Barbara** · March 27th, 2006, 12:50 AM

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! I want a piglet

**muchlove** · March 27th, 2006, 01:13 AM

Me too! They're so playful and affectionate. Too bad they get so big... I'd get one in a heartbeat if I could.

**Barbara** · March 27th, 2006, 01:40 AM

That's what I think about a lot of animals! Oh, a world of kitties, puppies, cubs and piglets

**EvilMonkey** · March 27th, 2006, 01:42 AM

Shes just fattening them up.

That cat aint dumb.

**MaryJane** · March 27th, 2006, 02:39 AM

These have to be the sweetest pics I've ever seen

But to be honest I also wonder how good this is for the animals.
Have the little pigs been taken away from their real mother?
And does the tiger have milk because she had babies too? And now they are with the mother-pig?

Those piglets in a tiger coat are the sweetest thing, but if I stop to think about it it gives me a creepy feeling too. Maybe this is playing with nature too much?

**moomies** · March 27th, 2006, 03:17 AM

^^ I agree MaryJane. They look so adorable but it seems wrong to swap animal babies and mothers just so that the zoo can boost visitors/revenue.

**muchlove** · March 27th, 2006, 04:57 AM

I thought it was bizarre and sweet at the same time. You can't help but "awwwwwwwwww" at it, because.... well just look at them! But it's... weird.

Still, I can't help giggling at a tiger that thinks it's a pig, and vice versa.

**EvilMonkey** · March 27th, 2006, 05:34 AM

one of them strays.....'mama' goes to pick one up by the scruff......ooooh no scruff........hmmmmmm bacon.

Thats it!!! All over!!

**MaryJane** · March 27th, 2006, 05:43 AM

Originally Posted by EvilMonkey

one of them strays.....'mama' goes to pick one up by the scruff......ooooh no scruff........hmmmmmm bacon.

Thats it!!! All over!!

Noooooooooo!!!!! Stop it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**sweetrebel** · March 29th, 2006, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Barbara

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! I want a piglet

My uncle had a pig farm when we were little. I can not tell you the number of sick piglets we took in. It was not unusual for my aunt to knock on the door at all hours of the morning for my mother to take another piglet. Not many of them made it though...they were so cute and sweet! We buried everyone of them in the back yard.

**AliceInWonderland** · March 29th, 2006, 01:42 PM

those piglets won't last long

raw bacon anyone?

**Tati** · March 29th, 2006, 03:16 PM

Hehehe:

**AliceInWonderland** · October 26th, 2006, 05:45 PM

I like their little tiger-striped vests; how adorable are those!

look at the piglets little high-heels! they're so cute and their pink skin is so darling, too bad they'll be ripped from their 'mothers' paws and turned into bacon as soon as possible.

I love tigers almost as much as I love Lions and Cheetahs, but not quite

Here they are cuddling!

http://www.animalliberationfront.com...er_piglets.htm more pics and info!
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...ts&sa=N&tab=wi = cool pics!

**twitchy** · October 26th, 2006, 09:22 PM

Big ole pussycat.

More info:
The images displayed above were taken in 2004 at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand. Although the Sriracha Tiger Zoo hosts one of the world's most successful tiger breeding programs, unlike most western zoos it also offers circus- and carnival-like shows, exhibits, and interactions, including (as evidenced here) the mixture of adults and young of quite different species in the same enclosures. As described by the AWI Quarterly, a publication of the Animal Welfare Institute: The Sriracha Tiger Zoo, an hour outside of Bangkok, Thailand, is truly an amazing place. Boasting more than 400 tigers, a handful of Asian elephants, piles of crocodiles, camels, snakes and other exotic animals, the zoo has some intriguing, yet troubling exhibits.

In one glass room, a farrowing crate entombed a pig who, lying on her side, nourished both her piglets and tiger cubs. Across the hall, another glass room housed a female tiger, who fed piglets adorned in tiger-print costumes. This incongruous display was replicated elsewhere, where enclosures housed tigers, pigs, and dogs together.

In another area, a visitor could feed milk to a young tiger resting on his or her lap — a young tiger still in possession of his claws ... There was a tiger circus, not dissimilar from a circus anywhere else: tigers leaping through rings of fire, walking across a double tightrope, parading around the ring on hind legs, and riding around on the back of the horse.
The mixture of tiger and piglets depicted in the images above therefore was not something undertaken for functional reasons, but rather it's a common form of visual entertainment provided by the zoo for the amusement of its visitors. According to the Pattaya Mail, these tiger-pig nursing relationships have also been reciprocated to the extent that the mother tiger shown suckling piglets was herself nursed by a sow: Visitors recently witnessed some bizarre feeding habits of the zoo's most famous inhabitants. A two-year-old female pig named Benjamaj is a blended pedigree of parents, Land-Less and Las-White, that were imported from Norway. Benjamaj is a kind and maternal porky. She has taken 4 baby tigers under her care and along with 3 tiny piglets is nursing the tigers as though she were their mum. She loves those cats and they love her back.

Unbelieving, wide-eyed tourists pressed their noses up to the cage to get a better look. As they moved on to the next cage they were in for another surprise, as there, a great Royal Bengal tigress was lolling on her side and suckling 6 tiny piglets.

'Momma' tiger Saimai is two years old and as a baby was suckled by a pig until she was 4 months old. This democratic start in life allowed her to form a loving relationship with other pigs and even a dog. Food in the wild, maybe — but at the zoo, tourists who witness these amazing scenes come away with food for thought.
Although these pictures might appear charming and innocent, the AWI noted back in 2004 that there may be a darker side to the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, as press reports stated that Sriracha was under investigation for illegally breeding protected wildlife for commercial export and had been implicated in the sale of a hundred tigers to China (where there is strong demand for tiger body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicines). The AWI also noted that in late 2004 the zoo was closed for a month when between 80 and 100 tigers died or were euthanized due to an avian influenza (probably spread via the raw chicken carcasses fed to the tigers) that swept through the facility.
(http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/tigerpig.asp)