Update of Rewilding Training at Laohu Valley Reserve Sept 2004 - Nov 2006

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Sept 2004 - Nov 2006

Cathay and Hope

After spending a year at the leased property in Makopani in the northern part of South Africa, Cathay and Hope finally came to Laohu Valley Reserve in the Free State on 8 September 2004. They were flown down by the Bateleurs (a volunteer organization of pilots dedicated to conservation of wildlife) and arrived safely on the reserve. They were released into a 62 hectare camp – much larger than the small enclosure they were used to before.

At first, they found the rough terrain and the rocky soil very difficult to get used to. Their paws were used to more sandy soil and they used to walk a few metres, sit down and lick their paws. Within a week they had, however adapted to the new environment. At the time of their arrival at Laohu Valley Reserve, Cathay was 20 months and Hope 19 months old. Their Chinese keeper, Tan Jun had been with them since their birth and at this stage was still very close to them – they still responded and came to him when he called them. Due to the false and sensational criminal charges of the Trust by the NSPCA for cruelty to chickens, Cathay and Hope’s rehabilitation training had actually stopped since December 2004 and therefore their true retraining to become wild tigers only began after they had moved to Laohu Valley Reserve and after Tan Jun returned to China at the end of September.

Their first lesson was being given an entire blesbok carcass (a medium sized antelope) in October 2004. Neither Cathay nor Hope knew what this was and they did not associate it with food at all. In fact, when they poked and pulled at it and the head of the blesbok would flop around, both tigers got scared and ran away a few paces. It took them more than 24 hours to break the skin and realise that this was food. From then on they were only fed whole carcasses and they got very proficient at breaking the skin and eating the entire carcass in only a couple of hours.

In the 62 hectare enclosure, Cathay and Hope now also had the luxury of a river flowing through it. They spent many afternoons lying or playing in the water. Whenever they spent a long period of time in the river, their paws were again very soft and they walked over the rocky terrain with caution.

During December 2005, blesbok were bought and placed into an adjacent camp next to Cathay and Hope. At regular intervals, two were caught and released into the tigers’ 62 hectare enclosure. The first releases were done where Cathay and Hope could see the blesbok being caught and released. Both tigers showed incredible speed and agility in catching the antelope. At first they found it difficult to give the final coup de grace, but with time they learnt how to deliver the final and fatal bite with ease.

In March 2005, more blesbok were caught but this time all the antelope were released into the 62 hectare enclosure. The blesbok very soon learnt that there were predators present and became incredibly adept at avoiding the tigers. Cathay and Hope found this new behaviour of their prey perplexing and difficult to adapt to. They continued to try and run down the antelope as they had done in the past, but now the blesbok knew the enclosure and managed to get away from the tigers every time. It took the tigers many weeks to figure out that they did not have the speed to run down their prey and the cheetah style of hunting was no longer working. Eventually, Cathay was the first to start using better stalking techniques and also to vary the strategy used to catch the prey. Hope seemed to be a slower learner, and he continued to walk right up to the blesbok and then tried running them down. After watching Cathay, he also changed strategy. Interestingly enough, most of their kills over this period took place at night or before dawn – the time when wild predators would normally hunt.

Also during March 2005, both Cathay and Hope were fitted with radio tracking collars. This was in preparation for their release later that year into a 600 hectare camp where spotting them will be much more difficult. During the fitting of the collars and while they were immobilised, Dr Richard Burroughs, a wildlife vet from Pretoria also had the chance to give them a thorough physical examination. He found them both in good health and he also investigated the amount of ticks they were carrying. This was a concern seeing that these tigers came from zoos in China and would not have had contact with parasites such as ticks. Dr Burroughs found that they had a number of ticks on them, but not an exorbitant amount and they had adapted well to carrying such parasites. As a precaution they were treated with an insecticide.

During April 2005, Cathay and Hope met up with porcupines for the first time. From time to time both Cathay and Hope were seen with quills sticking out of their faces. Luckily, the quills dropped out and the tigers were none the worse for wear. During this time their faeces also showed quills indicating that the tigers had killed and eaten porcupines.

During July 2005, Cathay developed a skin infection. She started showing patches where the hair had fallen out and bare skin could be seen. Now that they are hunting for themselves, the staff have no direct contact with the tigers and these tigers can definitely not be handled in any way. The vet was called in and it was decided that instead of immobilising the tigers, which is always risky, a crush cage would be designed and built and hopefully Cathay will be caught in it and treated.

Within record-breaking time a cage was designed and built. Cathay was placed in the small 0.5 hectare “treatment” camp with the crate and the staff started placing pieces of meat into the crate – luring her to enter. It took 8 days to get her to feed from the crate. Eventually, the trap door could be closed and the false side of the cage used to push her into a small area where the vet could take skin and hair samples. It was determined that it was a fungal infection and that she would have to be treated with an anti-fungal spray every 4 days for two months. By now, Hope also started showing signs of having this skin infection, which is contagious. It took only two days to teach Hope to enter the cage and both tigers were held in the smaller camp and treated until the infection was cured.

Sadly on 20 August 2005, Hope died. It seems that on Wednesday, August 17th, Hope lost his appetite and by August 18th he seemed to be experiencing discomfort with his bowl movements. This was monitored closely and by Friday, August 19th a Vet was called out to Laohu Valley reserve, because a bloody discharge was noticed. Hope was immediately treated with antibiotics and painkillers and by Saturday morning seemed to be responding to the treatment. During Saturday afternoon, August 20th, Hope’s condition suddenly started deteriorating rapidly and despite professional veterinary care and being placed on a drip, he died early evening.

Following the death of Hope, the post-mortem showed that the primary cause of death was pneumonia and heart failure. Samples were obtained at the post-mortem and submitted to two independent laboratories in South Africa. The results from both laboratories showed that the underlying causes of Hope’s death were neither bacterial nor viral.

They concluded that the tiger was suffering from immunosuppression, supported by the presence of opportunistic bacteria that are normally only found replicating in animals that are immune compromised.

In lay terms, this means that common bacteria, which are usually relatively harmless, became problematic when Hope’s body was unable to deal with the infection and that this infection, which contributed to his death, was a secondary event.

In many respects there are no clear answers from the laboratory results, but the indications are that genetics played a major part and that Hope was not a strong animal. Unfortunately, nature maintains its balance by the survival of the fittest and Hope was simply not strong enough to combat opportunistic infections and bacteria.

Tigerwoods and Madonna

At the beginning of November 2004, TigerWoods and Madonna arrived aged 7 and 6 months respectively. These cubs flew directly from Beijing via Hong Kong to Johannesburg and were again flown to Laohu Valley by the Bateleurs. They were accompanied by a host of Chinese media who not only came to see their release into Laohu, but also to film and document Hope and Cathay’s progress.

Madonna unfortunately broke off one of her canines during the transit. This caused her tremendous pain and for the first week she did not eat or drink anything, resulting in severe dehydration. The local vet from Colesberg was called upon to treat her. Luckily she responded to the treatment and regained her appetite very quickly. The cubs were housed in a 0.2 hectare quarantine camp for the first month of their stay at Laohu. During this time, they were fed meat from the butchery but within the first week of their arrival they were given hare carcasses. Both cubs devoured the hares completely including the skin and bones. By the end of the quarantine period, they too got their first large carcass – a springbok. In contrast to Hope and Cathay, TigerWoods immediately knew that this was food and he wrestled it out of the hands of the staff at Laohu. It still took him and Madonna some time to learn how to efficiently open a carcass, but by the third carcass they were doing it like professionals.

At the end of January 2005, TigerWoods and Madonna moved from their small enclosure into a 4 hectare camp. Here for the first time, they encountered live prey in the form of guinea fowl. At first both cubs were rather clumsy in hunting the birds, but again after the third encounter they were proficient in hunting and eating their prey. They also had the opportunity in this new camp to meet Cathay and Hope. Their two enclosures bordered on to each other, with electrified fencing in between. It was soon obvious that there was a major love affair going on between Hope and Madonna. They would call to one another and pace along side each other on opposite sides of the fence. It was interesting to see that no aggression was displayed between the older tigers and the cubs and they seemed to all look forward to their daily “chats” through the fence.

In April 2005, Madonna and TigerWoods were again “upgraded” to a larger enclosure, this time a 9 hectare camp. This enclosure also has a river running through it, and many afternoons the cubs were seen playing and running in the water. At the same time blesbok were also introduced into this camp. For the first two weeks both cubs (now over a year old) simply chased the blesbok around, thinking it was a marvellous game. And then it happened – they managed to kill one of the blesbok and the penny dropped! This was food! What made this a remarkable achievement is that these two tigers succeeded in hunting for themselves a full year earlier than Cathay and Hope had done. They also seemed to be much better at stalking and using different strategies than the two older tigers had been.

This entire project and the process followed is not only the first time this has ever been attempted anywhere in the world as far as tigers are concerned, it is also a learning process for the humans concerned. So far, the successes and progress have been heartening and most rewarding and despite the setback of Hope’s death, hope in the future of this project remains.

After Hope’s death, Cathay was monitored very closely. Not only was there concern about her health, but no one was sure what her reaction was going to be to losing her mate. It is difficult to say with certainty that she missed Hope. They had spent considerable time apart during the treatment period for both their skin infections. What was noticed, was that Cathay was not her exuberant self. She was far more reticent and not having a mate spent her time eating and sleeping with no play demonstrated.

She was placed in the 4 hectare enclosure where she could be monitored more easily. TigerWoods and Madonna were in the adjacent 9 hectare enclosure and Cathay could watch them through the fence. Within four weeks of Hope’s death, Cathay started displaying behaviour which indicated that she might be in season. She scent marked incessantly and started to make a roaring sound never heard before. Her days were spent next to the fence calling the other tigers. They responded to the new strange noise, and the tigers spent hours lying on opposite sides of the fence.

Towards the end of October 2005, Cathay would at times start jumping about on her side of the fence when she saw TigerWoods and Madonna playing. It was as if she wanted to join in the play but the fence was preventing her. It was decided to let the tigers meet one another during the day, but to separate them at night. So on 26 October 2005 the tigers were introduced to one another.

Meanwhile, towards the end of September 2005, bald patches were noticed first on Madonna and a bit later on TigerWoods as well. This looked similar to the bare skin patches Cathay and Hope had, so all indications were that they also had a skin infection. Dr Joe van Heerden, an expert wildlife vet from Kimberley was called in and Madonna was immobilised. Skin scrapings were taken and her condition in general was assessed. Dr van Heerden found that Madonna was in excellent condition and also took some blood samples to do a thorough investigation into her general heath, all proving that she was indeed in good shape.

TigerWoods and Madonna were immediately placed on medication to counteract the skin infection. The results from the skin scrapings and the blood tests were received a short while later. It was determined that the skin infection was the same as what Cathay had had some months before. This type of infection is not necessarily contagious and the spores are found in the environment. It was also determined that this specific skin infection is at present prevalent in the area.

So, again a daily routine of feeding the tigers smaller pieces of meat had to be established so that they can receive their medication. Separating them every morning so that each one gets their correct dose was not so easy.

Due to the fact that TigerWoods and Madonna witnessed the entire treatment process with Cathay, including how the crush cage was used, they simply refused to go near the crush cage. In fact, even entering the 0.5 hectare camp became an issue. Luckily Li was visiting Laohu Valley during October and she managed to get them to walk with her to the 0.5 hectare camp and TigerWoods even entered the 0.5 hectare camp. This became a daily routine and the tigers could be medicated. Fortunately, the medication worked immediately and within days, hair growth was witnessed on both tigers. At no stage was the infection as severe as it had been with Cathay, but it was a relief to see the infection clear up very quickly.

Cathay was by now in the 4 hectare camp and the sub-adults in the 9 hectare camp. From here the daily routine of “visiting” with Cathay next to the fence started and the decision was taken to put them together.

Cathay, Tigerwoods and Madonna

Towards the end of October 2005, the gate between the quarantine camp and the 4 hectare camp was opened and TigerWoods was lured in to meet Cathay. Cathay had developed a fear of the gate leading to the quarantine camp so TigerWoods had to come to her. Not knowing what to expect, it was decided to first keep Madonna away in the 9 hectare camp. The staff was also geared to deal with a negative reaction and was in a position to separate the tigers again should a major fight ensue.

TigerWoods entered the 4 hectare camp full of bravado. His entire demeanour was one of “I am in charge!”. This did not sit well with Cathay and she immediately showed him who in fact was the dominant tiger. TigerWoods seemed confused – was he not the male and in charge? Cathay circled him for over an hour, keeping him in a submissive state lying on the ground with his belly exposed. He did not take too kindly to this treatment and roared and swatted at Cathay with his paws, even though he was lying on his back.

After an hour, Cathay let up the relentless circling and allowed TigerWoods to get up. She still made him realise where his position in the hierarchy was going to be, but she did start playing with him. Both of them ran into the drainage line, climbed trees and chased after each other.

Madonna had been watching all of this from the safety of the 9 hectare camp, but it was clear that she felt severely put out that she was not allowed to join in the fun. After two hours it was decided that all was going really well and Madonna could be allowed in. The gate was opened, and Madonna did not hesitate at all. She ran to Cathay and it was as if she had found a mother figure! She chuffed, head rubbed and made constant body contact with Cathay.

Cathay’s reaction was completely different to when she met TigerWoods. She immediately responded to Madonna by returning the affection showed and within minutes they were playing with one another. As severe as she was with TigerWoods, as gentle was she with Madonna. To end this perfect afternoon, all three tigers played with one another, chasing each other around and maybe this is anthropomorphic but it seemed as if Cathay had a smile on her face! In fact over the next couple of days she really seemed to be a happier tiger than when she was on her own.

Until early November 2005, the tigers were put together every day but then again separated at night. Then the day came to move Cathay from the 4 hectare enclosure to the 9 hectare with TigerWoods and Madonna. Cathay had an unreasonable fear of the gate leading from the 4 hectare camp into the quarantine camp. Once when she dragged a carcass across the gate it made a loud noise and it was assumed that this had caused her fear. Finally in early November she moved into the quarantine camp of her own accord and the gate to the 9 hectare was opened. This gate proved to be no problem and since then the three tigers have stayed together in this larger enclosure.

During December 2005, they seemed to have settled in quite nicely and the separation at night stopped. At times they were still fed apart simply to ensure that all three tigers got enough food, especially Madonna. TigerWoods went through a growth burst in December, where he grew almost 10 cm in height in a couple of weeks, and further more he filled out in his shoulders and legs to the extent that he became bigger than Cathay. Madonna also seemed to catch up in size, however she remains the small one compared to the other two.

Shortly after Hope’s death, Cathay exhibited behaviour which led the staff at Laohu to believe she might be in oestrus. Since then she has not again displayed this behaviour, indicating that it was either a false oestrus or indicated some other behaviour. It was later understood to be actually calling for her mate.

During January 2006 the rains finally came. During 2005, Laohu received almost no rain, to the extent that the rivers, dams and some water holes had started drying up. On 31 December, the heavens opened and during January more than 200 mm of rain fell (half of Laohu’s annual rainfall). This led to severe flood damage to roads and even to fences where streams burst their banks and damaged the fence. This even occurred in some of the tiger camps, delaying the move of the tigers into the bigger camp. Li was expected at Laohu in February 2006, so it was decided to wait for her visit to move the tigers.

Finally, the fences were repaired and all was in order to release the tigers back into the newly redesigned 40 hectare camp. This camp used to be the 62 hectare camp where Hope and Cathay were released into. The camp has been redesigned in a way to facilitate the tigers’ hunting attempts. On the chosen day, when the gate opened all three tigers stood at the opening, sniffing around for a short while. It was Madonna who showed the most courage and walked across as if she had done it numerous times. Cathay followed but TigerWoods was a bit of a wimp and paced along the fence, looking very nervous. Cathay and Madonna started to chase each other around and they even spotted a scrub hare, which they raced after but still TigerWoods stood at the gate. After a short while Cathay came back towards the gate as if to fetch TigerWoods. He seemed to build up courage and then leapt across the gate into the 40 hectare camp.

After about 45 minutes of investigation, the tigers crossed over the river. Peter drove away from the river line towards where the blesbok were, hoping that the tigers would spot the blesbok and want to hunt. Cathay followed the vehicle but instead of spotting the blesbok in the 40 hectare camp, she went running up to the corner and chased one that was on the other side of the fence. Madonna stood watching what Cathay was doing but at the same time she had seen the blesbok near the north eastern side of the camp and was not sure how she should tackle this. TigerWoods on the other hand was more interested in further investigations of the river line. Madonna then turned around and went back to TigerWoods and then returned with him, as if she needed him along with her. They started to walk towards the blesbok.

Cathay had now focused on the correct blesbok and was slowly walking in their direction. The blesbok got scared of Cathay approaching and started to run along the northern fence. TigerWoods crouched down watching but Madonna took chase. Four blesbok had separated from the group and she chased them for about 60m, looking more like a cheetah than a tiger! She however was not fast enough and they ran back towards the other blesbok. Cathay and TigerWoods started to walk after them. As the four blesbok approached the group, Cathay chased them for a short distance but she was too far behind them. TigerWoods seemed to have lost interest and he lay down near the north eastern corner staring at a wildebeest on the other side of the fence. He later walked back along the drainage line to where Madonna was near the river line.

Cathay, who was probably very excited to be back in the big camp, for the next two hours, continued to walk closer to the blesbok and they would run away. Then she would rest and do it again. It was obvious that she was very unfit but keen to hunt, however she still did not show true hunting techniques of stalking and ambushing. Cathay eventually also gave up and headed to the river line. It is very obvious that the last six months of feeding the tigers have made them unfit and they have forgotten the way to stalk and wait instead of running and chasing randomly.

After their disappointing first day back in the hunting business, the tigers were definitely up for a challenge! The next afternoon, TigerWoods was walking along the northern fence line when he spotted a group of blesbok about 100m from him. He immediately started to walk towards the blesbok. They started to run away. TigerWoods walked faster and even jogged to try and gain on the blesbok. A short while later, Madonna and Cathay joined TigerWoods. However, they had no strategy and all three tigers were running in different directions and the blesbok were running circles around them. TigerWoods started again and this time Madonna and Cathay followed him. They walked along the southern fence line following the blesbok. Cathay however split off and disappeared into a gully. When TigerWoods got quite close to the blesbok he started to run. This resulted in the blesbok running as well and they split into two groups. A larger group ran away while three blesbok did a circle and ran back along the fence line in the direction that they had just come from. TigerWoods was close on their tail but just not fast enough and after chasing them for about 120m he gave up. The funny part was that the blesbok virtually ran right past Madonna but she just stood and stared as they went past, perhaps rooting for TigerWoods! The younger tigers might have forgotten the way to stalk and wait instead of running and chasing randomly during the last six months of rest.

However, Cathay has proven to be the star and has recovered her ability very fast. In the afternoon of the second day after they were released into the large 40 hectare camp, the larger group of blesbok crossed over the gully and headed alongside it, back in an easterly direction towards where Cathay had deliberately been crouching low. They did not know that Cathay had been hiding in the grass waiting for them. As they ran past, Cathay singled out a juvenile blesbok. In a split second she leapt out and caught hold of it but it wriggled out of her grasp, another lunge and she managed to snare it again. The strange thing was that it was so much smaller than Cathay she could have easily killed it, but it seemed like she was unsure of what to do.

In the meantime, the mother of the youngster, in an attempt to try to save it charged back and forth at Cathay a couple of times. This action was quite extraordinary and never witnessed before. Usually a mother antelope would either run away to save herself, or she would stay and watch her doomed offspring knowing not to intervene as she might get hurt. Perhaps this blesbok was motivated so strongly by her desire to save her offspring that she dared to face the danger heroically, or perhaps she simply underestimated the ability of the tigers having successfully escaped from being hunted by them in the past year. However, her heroic action finally cost her life!

In one last attempt the blesbok came charging back at Cathay. Cathay released the juvenile from her grasp and in a most surprising move of speed, grabbed the mother blesbok in a leap and her teeth were immediately on the blesbok’s throat. The blesbok was however very strong and stood stiff as Cathay tried to topple her over using the weight of her body. It took Cathay a little while though to drop the blesbok to the ground. Cathay was then able to deliver the final killing bite. Unfortunately in all the excitement nobody managed to see what happened to the juvenile, which had got away.

While Cathay was still busy killing the blesbok, TigerWoods and Madonna came running over as they must have heard the commotion. As soon as Cathay was finished she purposefully walked away - she may well have been looking for the juvenile. TigerWoods grabbed hold of the blesbok carcass and dragged it to a bush with Madonna following. They were still tired and panting from their running around, so they lay down to rest. Cathay, after looking around for about 10 minutes went to join them. She was also panting heavily. After about 20 minutes of rest she got up and started to eat. Cathay only ate for 20 minutes before leaving the carcass and walking around and sniffing, again as if checking for the juvenile. TigerWoods went to the carcass and started to eat. Of course he ate for much longer and Madonna joined him for a short time as well. Cathay walked off along the gully, perhaps checking one more time, but to no avail. It appears the mother’s sacrifice may have saved her child, at least for one more day but the juvenile could not be found among the rest of the group of blesbok.

The next morning, the juvenile that Cathay had let go was found. It had some puncture wounds on its back legs but it seemed likely to survive. It had obviously laid low while the tigers were walking around and only when it knew the coast was clear, did it move out of the gully to join the rest of the blesbok.

The injured juvenile however had obviously learnt a very valuable lesson from its first hand experience with Cathay’s clutches and devised a tactic to survive. It seemed to avoid the herd of adults, who are larger and darker in colour, hence a lot more visible. It seemed to have decided that living by itself would be a safer option and as soon as the tigers were active it would lie down in the grass and blend in so well you could not seen it.

Over the next few days Cathay was on the constant prowl, even during the mid-day sun, which was also unusual, as they normally rest during the hot sun period. She might have assumed the responsibility of feeding the younger tigers, as four more blesbok disappeared in the next 4 days, all during the night and at the hands of Cathay, as we presume, as the younger tigers were not seen using much strategy and possibly even interfered with Cathay’s hunting. She proved our assumption correct a week later when she was alone in the 40 hectare camp as she hunted and fed herself consecutively. She tried hunting mainly in the early morning and again in the early evening, as it was getting dark. They were successful on three more occasions. The individuals killed were younger animals or females. They were acting in true predator style taking out the easier targets first such as the younger and female prey. Unfortunately, no more of the hunts were witnessed as it happened after dark so it is unknown who the successful hunter was, but it is assumed that it was Cathay.

During the latter part of February 2006, it rained continuously and so it was very difficult to get to the tigers. When possible, they had to be observed from a long distance. However running around in squelching mud could not be that bad since they did manage to make a kill in the bad weather! Once the rain had stopped and the tigers could be viewed up close again, it was noticed that TigerWoods had a very bad limp. It did not seem as if the injury was to his paw, but rather to his shoulder. After receiving advice from the Vet, it was decided to pull him back into the smaller camps so that he could rest the injured shoulder.

Cathay and Madonna were left in the 40 hectare camp and TigerWoods was placed in the quarantine camp. All this achieved was that he paced continuously along the fence, looking for the girls. To stop him from pacing, Madonna was allowed in to be with him. This resulted in Cathay pacing looking for the other two. For the first time since Hope’s death, she was again observed making a very strange roaring calling noise, which confirmed that she was definitely calling for the other two. In order to make all the tigers happy, Cathay was also allowed back into the smaller camps and all finally seemed fine.

TigerWoods’ limp took over four weeks to heal. On advice again from the Vet, it was determined that the problem was not muscular but most probably a ligament that had been injured. The tigers were allowed to enter the 9 hectare camp towards the end of March, where they have more room to play including the river.

After TigerWoods’ shoulder injury had healed, TigerWoods and Madonna were placed into the 40 hectare camp while Cathay was kept behind in the 9 hectare camp. Over the next few months TigerWoods and Madonna managed to hunt 12 of the 14 blesbok in the 40 hectare camp.

Most of these kills were instigated by TigerWoods and most of them occurred in the river line away from prying eyes, so it was impossible to determine which of the two tigers had actually made the kill. What was very interesting to observe, was that TigerWoods would be the one stalking and chasing the blesbok while Madonna lay in wait. As he chased the blesbok past Madonna, she would leap up and attempt to catch them but with little success. When TigerWoods did bring a blesbok down, it was very often Madonna who gave the final bite to the neck while TigerWoods held the blesbok firmly.

The early part of 2006 remained very wet. It continued to rain even during autumn and into the winter – unusual for this part of South Africa. This resulted in the complete replenishment of the water table as well as all the streams and fountains on Laohu Valley. At times the roads were impassable making close monitoring of the tigers very difficult. What became clear as the months went by, was that Cathay was extremely lonely on her own, so from time to time all three tigers were placed in the same camp for lengthy periods of time. This worked well until the end of winter. Suddenly, Cathay became very aggressive towards Madonna, inflicting bloody wounds and ripping open one of Madonna’s ears. This indicated that Cathay was possibly sexually mature and was now seeing Madonna as a rival for TigerWoods’ affection. Madonna could not understand what was happening to her. She continued to see Cathay as a type of mother figure and this rough treatment confused her.

It was decided that in the interest of Madonna’s safety and health, TigerWoods should rather be the one who moved between the two girls. The interaction between TigerWoods and Cathay became the focus of the monitoring of the tigers. It all depended on Cathay’s mood. At times she would be incredibly affectionate towards him, while at other times she would be mean and very aggressive. Then on the odd occasion, she would completely ignore him and go to the fence to interact with Madonna in the adjacent camp.

During August 2006, Cathay started displaying mating behaviour. She would lie in front of TigerWoods, legs apart inviting him to mate with her. He on the other hand had no idea what was expected of him. He would play with her or simply ignore her and explore the camp, scent marking as he went around. Poor Cathay!

In the spring, TigerWoods and Madonna were again alone in the 40 hectare camp with the remaining 2 blesbok. These blesbok had been in this camp for over a year and had successfully avoided the tigers. To the amazement of all, Madonna was the one to catch these two clever antelope – and out in the open! She lay in wait, lying low in the grass showing amazing patience and endurance. When they were close enough, she leapt out and chased the one directly into the fence where she managed to bring it down. A short while later, she repeated this technique almost to the letter and successfully hunted the second blesbok. TigerWoods was nowhere near when she achieved this major break through.

It can now be said without hesitation, that all three tigers have successfully learnt to hunt and given the opportunity they will all be able to fend for themselves. With this knowledge, it was decided that the focus of the project for now should be on the mating behaviour of the tigers, especially Cathay. It is important to know exactly the intervals of her coming into season and to monitor closely the reaction and behaviour of TigerWoods to these episodes. To make this type of monitoring easier, it was decided to rather feed them carcasses again. This means that they are fed every 5 days and their behaviour can be monitored continuously which is not the case when they are hunting for themselves. Often days can go by without seeing the tigers, especially after a kill and if it was made in the river line.

During October 2006, TigerWoods suddenly started mounting Madonna. He would get on her from behind, bite her on the neck and roar. Unfortunately, he was in completely the wrong position (half way up her back) and she simply thought he was being silly beyond belief. Whenever TigerWoods showed this type of behaviour, he was placed with Cathay. Once there, he again had no idea what to do. What seems to confuse him the most is that Cathay continuous to show her dominance over him and he submits every time by lying down and rolling on the ground in front of her. However, she shows submission to him too which has never before been observed. TigerWoods (typical male) misses all these innuendos every time, yet once he is back with Madonna he seems to know exactly what to do. Due to the fact that he is not yet three years old, it is understood that his “mating” behaviour with Madonna has more to do with dominance than sexual activity. Once he is with Cathay, he continues to be submissive and therefore will not display this type of behaviour with her.

It is now only a matter of time before TigerWoods is sexually mature. This process can unfortunately take as long as another year and in the mean time Cathay is ready to mate. With this in mind, efforts are currently underway to secure an adult male from a zoo in China. All indications are that this could be possible early in the new year. To be ready for this event, a tiger holding facility is currently being built which will also serve as the “maternity ward” in anticipation of cubs being born. The breeding centre will be named after SCT appeal patron David Tang, for his continuous effort in supporting and fundraising for us. All things considered, 2007 will be a very exciting year for the tigers of Laohu Valley.