Stuffed tiger helps three cubs regain health in India

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Stuffed tiger helps three cubs regain health in India
Photo: courtesy forest department of Madhya Pradesh

New Delhi. Who says stuffed animals are only for humans?

Recently, a stuffed tiger was used to nurse three orphaned cubs back to health at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, India.

The three cubs, rescued from Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserve on January 19, were initially suspicious of humans and kept rejecting bottles so the park rangers got creative to help them.

The rangers came up with the idea of fitting a stuffed toy tiger with synthetic nipples and milk bottles to feed the cubs.

"When the calf of a buffalo dies, villagers use a dummy calf to get milk from the buffalo. It's the smell of the calf which stimulates the lactation in the mother," said Mridul Pathak, a field director at Bandhavgarh reserve, reports CNN.

The cubs were famished as their mother had passed away recently. "They were starving and not even able to walk properly. Had we not reacted immediately, they would have died," said Pathak.

Explaining the rehabilitation process of wild animals, Pathak said that is a step-by-step process. Needles cannot be used on them as the animals get frightened easily and die, he added.

India is home to nearly 65% of the world's tigers which number about 3,890, according to the latest figures from the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Tiger Forum.