Rare Tiger Cub found in China Dies of Malnutrition

Discovery of rare Siberian Tiger raises survival hopes

A Rare Siberian Tiger discovered near the Russian border seemed an auspicious beginning to China's Year of the Tiger, but within days, the emaciated cub had died of malnutrition. The cub, believed to be about 1 year old, was already in poor shape just after it was found on Feb. 26 trapped in a fence, a security official with the forestry bureau in the northern province of Heilongjiang said Tuesday.

"It lay on the ground and looked so weak. We've had heavy snow these days, and it must have been starving," said the official, who would only give his family name, Zhang. Siberian Tigers are one of the world's rarest species, with just 300 believed remaining in the wild. In China, killing one of the big cats is punishable by death.

According to the Heilongjiang News, a forestry official named Han Deyou heard his dog barking and found the cub trapped between the metal bars of a fence in his backyard. The discovery came just days into the Chinese Lunar New Year — the Year of the Tiger, according to the Chinese zodiac.

The rescue effort took about 20 hours, and the female cub was fed two chickens and some beef while waiting. She had no apparent injuries. But, in a report Tuesday, the newspaper said the cub died two days later. "It was malnourished, and it had heart failure," Sun Haiyi, an official with the Heilongjiang Wild Animal Research Center, told the newspaper.

A 1-year-old tiger should weigh about 110 pounds (50 kilograms), but the cub weighed less than 66 pounds (30 kilograms), Sun said. Telephones at the research center rang unanswered Tuesday evening. The death comes as new efforts are under way to bolster the world's tiger population.

The 13 remaining countries with tiger populations are planning a first-ever Tiger summit in September in Russia with the help of the Global Tiger Initiative, a coalition formed in 2008 by the World Bank, the Smithsonian Institute and nearly 40 conservation groups. It aims to double tiger numbers by 2020.

The World Wildlife Fund has warned that tigers become extinct in China in the next 30 years.

Hungry Tiger kills zoo keeper

Tiger in unlocked cage kills Shanghai zoo keeper

BEIJING, An animal keeper was bitten to death by a hungry Tiger at Shanghai Zoo this morning. The 53-year-old victim surnamed Li was about to clean the tiger cage and feed the animal at about 8:15 a.m. when the bengal tiger inside suddenly jumped out and bit him in the neck, witnesses said.

The Tiger dragged Li around inside the cage as more than 10 shocked tourists watching. Though waiving his arm for help for several times, the victim was soon unable to move and finally laid on the ground, with all the clothes ragged by the tiger.

Li was pronounced dead at the time ambulances arrived at about 8:30 a.m..

"Zoo staff said that the Tiger didn't have anything to eat the whole day yesterday, it must have been starving," said one of the witnesses. A team of police officers, zoo managers and animal experts have started to probe into cause of the deadly mishap. It is the second case that man was bitten to death in the city. In 1999, a 41-year-old tour bus driver died after he got off the broken-down bus in the tigers' zone and was attacked by a wandering Tiger nearby.

The State Forestry Administration said last month that there were nearly 6,000 captive tigers in China, most of them on "tiger farms" where the animals are bred for body parts used in traditional medicine.

Two Tiger Cubs found dead in Ranthambore Park, Rajasthan

Poisoned Goats used to kill Ranthambore Tigers

Two Tiger Cubs have been found dead in mysterious circumstances at the Ranthambhore National park in the north-west Indian state of Rajasthan.

Wildlife officials say it appears the cubs had been poisoned. An inquiry has been ordered. The bodies of the cubs have been sent for post mortems. Poaching and loss of habitat in India have decimated Tiger numbers which are estimated to have fallen from 40,000 to about 1,400 in the past 100 years. A major awareness campaign has been launched to halt the steep decline in Tiger numbers in India.

'Revenge' Ranthambore covers several hundred square kilometres of dry deciduous forests sprawling over undulating Terrain. According to a 2009 census, there were about 40 tigers in and around the park, which is in Sawai madhopur district of Rajasthan. Nearly 100 villages surround the park, and the more the Tiger population grows the more they are likely to come into conflict with humans, observers say.

Ranthambhore is a major tourist attraction, drawing about 200,000 people from India and abroad every year. Whatever be the reason, the killings display a total lack of a foolproof system to Protect Tigers in a small area of this National park even after the Sariska disaster. While wild life department has shifted three Tigers to Sariska and is pushing for moving more tigers to other core areas, the major question these killings have again raised is that government or anyone else just can not assure safety to tigers at their home, whether in a National Park or their new homes.

he cause of the deaths is yet to be ascertained, but prima facie, it seemed like a case of poisoning.

"This situation looks like that the Tigers have hunted the two goats. One goat was found hanging on the tree, looking at the other goat it looks like someone might have poisoned the goat or it could be pesticides consumed by the goat, which became the reason for the death of tiger, as they consumed them. Evidence of vomiting was found and clears certain queries. But forest Officials are examining the tigers, and the clear picture would emerge after it,".