Chimp Makes Great Surrogate Mum

Ever since she was an infant, Anjana has watched her keeper China York, nurture orphaned baby animals at The Institute of Greatly Endangered Species in South Carolina (TIGERS). It is therefore no wonder that the now two-year old chimpanzee has learnt a trick or two on how to be a caring and loving parent.

While China and Anjana have been surrogate mums to several baby animals, their latest wards are definitely amongst the cutest and cuddliest!

Mitra, (friend in the Indian language, Hindi) and Shiva (the supreme Hindu God), are baby white tigers, both born around the first week of September when Hurricane Hanna was pounding the shores of South Carolina. The flooding at the TIGERS sanctuary stressed their mother so much, that the baby tigers had to be separated from her.

But they had very little to worry about. Anjana took the babies under her wing right away. She feeds the little tigers milk from a bottle, frolics with them during playtime and even lays next to them when they take a nap. She, China and the two baby tigers are inseparable and seem to be having a great time together. In fact, the tigers do not even realize that Anjana is not their mother.

For Anjana, loving babies is all part of a day's job. In her short life, she has helped raise leopards, orangutans and lions and had just finished raising four baby tigers before Mitra and Shiva came along.

TIGERS located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is home to 45 big cats, including the white and red-striped golden tabby tigers, one of the rarest big cat breeds. They are also home to some of the only captive 'Ligers' - a cross between a male lion and a female tiger (see video below). To see some more fascinating pictures and videos of all their animals check out their website at: www.tigerfriends.com/multimedia.html.

Sources: Thesun.co.uk, tigerfriends.com, dailymail.co.uk