ANNUAL UPDATE OF SOUTH CHINA TIGER REWILDING PROJECT
LAOHU VALLEY RESERVE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Five New Tiger Cubs in Healthy Conditions
1ST NOVEMBER 2007 T0 31ST OCTOBER 2008
The start of October 2007 saw some heavy rain at Laohu Valley, unfortunately not enough to fill the dams and water-courses that were in serious danger of drying out.
327 was let out of the breeding centre and steadily came to grips with his new, more natural environment. Madonna was also introduced to him at regular intervals and eventually they spent whole days in each others company. Both seemed very shy, retreating whenever the other drew near. Eventually they had become more comfortable in each others company and Madonna began making sexual advances, flirting on several occasions, but lost interest when 327 didn’t reciprocate and it was decided to unite her with TigerWoods in the 9ha camp.
Both Madonna and Cathay were let into the breeding centre in the hope that they would recognize the centre as the birthing location for all future litters. Madonna was more difficult to condition than Cathay but she did eventually become used to the building and gradually became more relaxed when confined but it seems as though she was never comfortable.
During the first week of November, TigerWoods and Madonna tried mating. But it was Cathay who demonstrated that her mating with TigerWoods was successful back in August. On a bitterly cold 23rd November, following 12 hours of feverish pacing she finally gave birth to a single male cub weighing 1.2kg. She became extremely anxious and paced around with the cub in her mouth, not knowing what to do. The cub, named Hulooo afterwards, had to be removed for fear he would die of exposure. He was hand reared at Lory Park until he was old enough to return to Laohu Valley.
We tried mating Cathay and 327 again but it was clear by now there was no chemistry between the two. Cathay and TigerWoods were again put together and mating occurred in mid-December 2007 amidst much roaring and caressing. Madonna also appeared to be in oestrus and as soon as all sexual activity between Cathay and TigerWoods was concluded, TW was enclosed with Madonna in the 4ha camp. They mated successfully but it was not certain whether Madonna was able to conceive. Work on a small enclosure within the 9ha camp nevertheless began to prepare for the eventualities.
During February, Cathay, TigerWoods and Madonna were all given a chance to practice hunting in the 40ha camp and three kills were made in the first three days by Cathay. Madonna made two successful kills on her own as well.
Birthing boxes were made and placed in the breeding centre at the beginning of March and acceptance training began, which took about two weeks for. However, Madonna remained suspicious of the boxes. Cathay gave birth to two male cubs on 30th March inside a birthing box in the breeding centre and she reared her own cubs this time without human intervention. However, the presence of strangers and noise of vehicles made Cathay extremely agitated and she carried both cubs outside and refused to bring them back in. She was given permission to rear the cubs under the stars in the quarantine camp and both cubs survived through the bitter winter cold.
By the time Madonna gave birth on 12th April 2008 she still hadn’t accepted any birthing boxes and was also unsure of what was expected of her. Due to the unusually large size of the cub, it was a difficult birth and the first cub was half dead by the time it was dropped. Madonna, not knowing what to do with the cub, carried it in her mouth and started pacing. When her second cub dropped, the instinctive push accompanying birthing made her accidently kill her first cub. She was totally preoccupied with the dead cub and with grooming herself and paid scant attention to the second live cub, which had to be rescued and sent to Lory Park for hand rearing. Unfortunately the cub died on the 7th day due to bacterial infection.
Hulooo returned to Laohu Valley on 16th April 2008.
During the last week of May, Cathay’s cubs received their first taste of meat and by the middle of June were eating as much meat as they were drinking milk. They also became more adventurous, leaving their mother’s side for long periods of time. Madonna’s pregnancy becomes now more evident.
The 4ha camp was divided and we now have a 3ha section which for the time being has become 327’s new home and Madonna has been placed in the 1ha portion; with enough time to spare in order for her to become fully acclimatized before she gave birth to her second litter.
Cathay’s three cubs began their rewilding training in mid August and had their first hunting lesson. She was also separated from her cubs on August 16th 2008 so she could mate again. Hulooo was also introduced to his younger brothers in the quarantine camp under close supervision-a risky experiment but for Hulooo’s benefit, in order to both reduce his dependence on humans and for his rewilding training. After about a week, he overcame his fear of them and they become fast friends. However, whenever humans are present, Hulooo still prefers the attention of his two legged friends than his own siblings. Who can blame him –a sweet and affectionate little tiger! However, we had to let him grow out of his reliance on humans gradually, as he matures. Hulooo was also allowed to renew his relationship with his mother, another unprecedented but necessary risk we took. O 21st September 2008 he was allowed to join her in the 9ha camp. They accepted each other surprisingly well to start with, but Hulooo became aggressive towards his mother (not the other way round!) while Cathay kept her cool and remained friendly. She continued to tolerate his bad behaviour until she could no longer take his naughty (or playful but rough) manners. She taught him a lesson in a motherly fashion! Hulooo started to become aware of his place in the hierarchy.
JenB and Coco also began training to accept the crush cage and it was to serve us well when they had to be microchipped.
Meanwhile, Madonna gave birth to a second litter of tiger cubs on August 18th 2008 in the 1ha camp without human interference or intervention at all. It was only on their tenth day that we actually discovered their number and sexes-a boy and a girl!. Apart from observation from a distance, she was left totally alone to rear her cubs in peace.
While we waited for Cathay to come back into oestrus, we also let her into the 9ha camp on a regular basis so that she could maintain contact with her cubs. We planned to reunite her with her three children after she has mated again, so she could teach them the finer points of hunting.
On 16th September 2008 all three cubs were allowed into the 9ha camp and they discovered what “the wild” felt like. They took to nature in no time and disappeared into the trees and the little river for the rest of the day. However, the cubs had a very traumatic day on 17th September 2008 when their microchips were inserted. Eventually the younger ones had to be sedated to facilitate microchipping but suffered no side effects (drugs are high risks for tigers and cheetahs). We made up for this trying experience by giving them their first whole buck to eat. It took them a full 24hours to break the skin but they gradually became better at it and by the end of October 2008 it only took Hulooo a couple of minutes to break the skin on the hindquarters and begin feeding.
It would be interesting to record how long it takes Cathay to come into oestrus again as we experience this unique biological condition whereby a tigress in the wild “looses” her cubs after four and half months.