And the Lion shall lay down with the lamb.

OK, so the tiger will lay down with the piglet

This story is also making the rounds on the internet.

In a zoo in California , a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth. The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine. The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve. After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only orphans" that could be found quickly, were a litter of weaner pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops??



Makes a good story, but as Paul Harvey says, "Here is the rest of the story!"

The setting is not California but a zoo in Bangkok, Thailand, where a Begal tiger specializes in raising pigletts!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7ofzjIW4ykc&feature=related



And let's switch the caretaking around!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FWrON85O_SY&feature=related



The Sriracha Tiger Zoo, an hour's drive from Bangkok, has been accused of causing its exhibits unnecessary suffering, and of using stunts to gain publicity.

These pictures must have been part of such a set-up, say experts, because it was unnecessary to wrap the piglets in their cute little tiger-skin coats.

It is apparently common practice in Thailand for tigers to suckle pigs, and for pigs to adopt orphaned cubs.

In another twist, the zoo has been investigated for allegedly breeding tigers for export to China - where tiger parts command high prices for use in traditional medicines.

Sommai Temsiripong, one of the zoo's owners, was charged with breeding tigers without a license. On another occasion 23 tigers died of bird flu after being fed infected raw chickens.

Critics say that behind the scenes tigers are bred in poor conditions and the London Zoological Society has been critical of Sriracha's animal husbandry.

Adam Roberts, an investigator with Animal Welfare International, the respected American pressure group which investigated the pictures, wrote in its quarterly magazine that the zoo - with more than 400 tigers, a handful of Asian elephants, of crocodiles, camels, snakes and other exotic animals - had many troubling exhibits.
It also houses a circus, he said, where he saw tigers leaping through rings of fire, walking across a double tightrope, parading around the ring on hind legs, and riding on the back of a horse.

"Up close, however, one could clearly see the animals' debilitation and fear," he added.

"All of the animals awaited their turn to perform in a gated tunnel, keepers constantly poking them with a steel pole through the iron mesh."

Behind the scenes, bored elephants swayed at the end of 2ft long chains anchored to the ground.

One had a long, deep scar across his ear - another was scarred across her trunk.
"After the show, the elephants stood in frot of the seats taking money from people with their trunks and passing it to the trainers astride their backs," Mr Roberts reported.

The zoo denies any wrongdoing.

I must say that this cute California zoo story seems as if it is actually a sad tale of animal abuse!