ANNUAL UPDATE OF SOUTH CHINA TIGER REWILDING

LAOHU VALLEY RESERVE
1ST NOVEMBER 2008 T0 31ST OCTOBER 2009

The following update concerns the rewilding of South China Tigers (panthera tigris amoyensis) at Laohu Valley Reserve in South Africa

• King Henry was first to hunt on his own, then actively trained by Madonna
• Madonna’s cubs learnt and perfected co-operative hunting techniques.
• Cathay comes into estrus and mates with 327
• Hulooo and his brothers perfect their hunting techniques and prove more proficient than Madonna’s cubs
• Coco becomes the most proficient hunter of the three brothers
• TigerWoods is reintroduced to his entire family

MADONNA AND HER CUBS:

Madonna’s cubs had become more active and started following their mother around and discovered that there were other members of the tiger family when they met 327 for the first time. We began conditioning the cubs to a crush cage early in their lives. This entailed the placing of meat into the cage at ever-increasing distance from the gate and slowly, over a period of time reducing the space within the cage. The purpose of this conditioning is for the cubs to become accustomed to the confined space which would become necessary in the event of a vet having to administer treatment or prior to, and during transportation. King Henry was soon dragging the meat out like a pro but Princess; being shy needed more time.

King Henry was the first to ‘hunt’ when he caught, killed and ate a wild bird in their camp. Some time later they were confronted by a stray guinea fowl that had ventured into the camp where King Henry and Princess were lying. Both were at first afraid of the bird, and the bird was unaware of the fact that these cats posed a threat. Although Princess recovered first it was King Henry that eventually caught it. He then proceeded to eat the bird, refusing to share with his sister. After two months Madonna had and her cubs were moved into the 40ha camp (Tigers’ Roars) to start teaching the cubs hunting techniques by way of example.

Like a wild tigress teaching her young, Madonna paralyzed an antelope and chuffed King Henry closer to do the honours and suffocate it…which he did; successfully. A few days later he proved just how proficient he was at hunting and managed to successfully catch and kill his own antelope and then helped Madonna catch and kill the animal that she was chasing. At the end of September the cubs were separated from their parents and sent into Tigers’ Roars Camp alone; in order for us to gauge their hunting prowess. However, they had no inclination to hunt on their own and spent all their time at the gates and fences, so Madonna was sent in to continue their tuition. From that moment they reduced the number rapidly. In just 27 days they had successfully hunted 23 blesbuck. Unfortunately from a witness point of view, these hunts took place during the night and we have been unable to obtain intelligence as to where the hunts were taking place and which individuals were actually involved in the killing. From the couple of unsuccessful, day-time attempts we were able to witness it became apparent that Princess was now an active member of the hunts which followed a co-operative pattern, driving the prey across the river and into the thick brush where they could be ambushed, cut-off and chased down. Madonna and her cubs were a force to be reckoned, disposing of a total of 24 blesbuck.

CATHAY AND 327:

By the end of April Cathay still had not come into estrus and it was decided to separate them to see if the change would have the desired affect by taking the decision a step further. Cathay was placed in the 3ha camp with 327 with the idea of rotating her between the two males. 327 accepted Cathay into his camp with delight. On the 13th June 2009 Cathay finally came into estrus and although she was in with TigerWoods she demanded to be let in with 327 and on the same afternoon they mated and did so for the next three days. Unfortunately nothing came of that mating and Cathay again came into estrus on the 28th August whereupon she and 327 again mated for a period of three days, to date she is still with him and has not come into estrus since then.

HULOOO, JENB AND COCO:

Hulooo and his brothers spent many days in the erstwhile 9ha camp and even attempted their own hunt by chasing a small fuzzy animal around until it escaped through the fence. On 31st January 2009; Hulooo, JenB and Coco were introduced to the wonders of Tigers’ Roars Camp but were unable to successfully hunt any of the blesbuck. Early in March Hulooo and his brothers attempted their first witnessed, self-initiated, cooperative hunt, unfortunately it failed, but in the middle of the month they were able to successfully hunt an antelope. Hulooo initiated the hunt but after the animal had escaped from his clutches Coco caught it. On 4th August they were introduced into Tigers’ Roars once more and for the next month were highly successful in hunting. Both JenB and Coco proved without a shadow of a doubt that they are able to hunt, Hulooo is more for the chase than the actual killing and often left that for his brothers. They reduced the numbers to 8 from an original 29 in just two weeks.

TIGERWOODS INTRODUCED TO HIS CUBS:

Traditional practice in zoos does not put tiger fathers together with their cubs. However, in the wild, a male tiger’s territory overlaps those of 3 or 4 females and he guards his territory and cubs with these females. Our experiment; to reintroduce TigerWoods his entire family went exceptionally well and he tolerated his cubs’ overly energetic antics. After a few days though, he avoided their company, possibly becoming annoyed by all the intense attention. However, this experiment confirms that Tigers make exceptional fathers even after being separated from the mother before the birth of the cubs. He is indeed able to recognize them as his.

OBSERVATIONS:

1. Cathay was separated from her cubs in the hopes that she would come into estrus. Had the cubs been removed within two weeks of birth, she would have come into post-partum estrus within a month. It took fully 10 months after the separation for Cathay to enter into estrus, by which time JenB and Coco were fifteen months old. Interestingly, according to info from Shanghai zoo, the female South China Tigers would come into estrus after about 3 or 4 months in similar situations. Information from other captive breeding programs provided figures between 1 month to 6 months. We wonder if Cathay’s long period of waiting between separation from her cubs and estrus was more like a wild tigress.

Because of this long period between separation and the mother coming into estrus it was decided to leave Madonna’s cubs with her, during which we could put the time to good use to give Madonna the opportunity to equip her cubs with all the hunting skills they would need upon their return to China.

2. When comparing Hulooo and his brothers hunting to King Henry and Princess it is notable that Hulooo and his brothers learnt to initiate a hunt for themselves much earlier and learnt the process much faster than King Henry and Princess who are still dependent on their mother. At this stage, King Henry and Princess still refuse to hunt unless their mother is present. This could possibly be attributed to the fact that having to rely on their own abilities and fend for themselves has made Hulooo and his brothers more independent at an earlier age and more able to look out for themselves.

3. When Coco and JenB were still young, Coco accepted JenB’s leadership in all matters. As the pair grew up they exchanged roles. Coco became less of an introvert and JenB crept into his shell. Coco now takes the lead to hunting and of the three is the most proficient; sometimes even snatching the prey out of his brother’s grasp. King Henry always has had a very strong personality and this has stood him in good stead whilst learning to hunt and he is becoming increasingly independent. Princess on the other hand takes after her mother. She is still shy and retiring, and still depends on her mother for guidance and protection and is always ready to seek shelter at the first glimpse of unaccustomed activity. She was however quite attached to TigerWoods, preferring his company to that of his mother and brother. Although Hulooo was hand reared and still loves human company he and his brothers have become inseparable.

4. In total, Madonna and her cubs made 30 kills in just under 2 months. Hulooo & bros made 21 kills in 18 days. It is interesting to note that in spite of being separated from their mother and having had to teach themselves to hunt they managed to hunt more prey in a shorter period of time. The difference in proficiency could be attributed to the fact that Madonna’s technique of teaching by example requires more time and dedication than the brothers’ learning by trial and error.