Update of Rewilding Training at Laohu Valley Reserve - Jan to Sept 2007

At the start of 2007 it became clear that Cathay is ready to mate but TigerWoods will still take some time to be fully ready. For this reason a stud male tiger, known only by his stud book registration number 327, was sent from China to Laohu Valley and arrived at the end of April. He was not sedated during his marathon journey and arrived relaxed and not stressed at all. Being a zoo tiger of nearly 5 years of age, a purposely designed and built breeding centre was built for him. Known as the David Tang Tiger Breeding Centre, named after a major supporter of the project who had raised substantial funds to build the centre, 327 was released into his new home. It has to be borne in mind that 327 came from the northern hemisphere at the end of winter to immediately enter into the southern hemisphere’s winter. Furthermore, having lived in a zoo all his life he could not be released into the open bush at Laohu. So, 327 settled into his new home and seemed to adapt very quickly. Within 24 hours, he was given wild food in the form of a springbok leg and weaned off his diet of chicken, eggs and cut pieces of meat. He was fed a springbok leg as part of his first meal and immediately took the meat on the bone, leaving his bowl of prepared food. Within another 24 hours he was fed his first complete carcass. He knew that it was food, but did not have the skill to open the carcass, This took him several hours before he finally broke the skin. He also did not know that he needed to use his paws to secure his meal, so initially it kept on rolling away from him. Within a week he had mastered the art of holding down the carcass and opening it successfully within minutes. After a month, his coat started shining like the other three tigers and in general his condition improved dramatically.

Also within a week of his arrival, he was let out of his cage into the small enclosure known as the quarantine camp adjacent to the building. He came out immediately and started sniffing around. The soil around the building was mostly soft sand and he was very happy wandering around. However when he ventured further into the camp, his paws came in contact for the very first time with grass and shrubs. He hated this sensation and would jump back onto the soft sand immediately. He would also shake his paws as if he was worried that the strange substance had somehow become attached to his paws. After a couple of days, Cathay was allowed to come to the fence of the quarantine camp and this was the first meeting between the two, even though there was an electrified fence between them. Cathay was very excited and paced up and down the fence chuffing continuously. 327 was interested, but the grass and bushes still bothered him. After another day or so, TigerWoods and Madonna were also allowed to come to the fence from their 9 ha camp. This particular day all three tigers were next to fence on both sides of the quarantine camp and 327 got so excited to meet all his new friends that he completely forgot about the grass and bushes and finally ventured into the far corner of the camp. They all chuffed at one another and even TigerWoods was not aggressive towards 327. For the next few days, 327 seemed smitten with Madonna, He would lie staring at her chuffing as she walked past, while at the same time ignoring Cathay. TigerWoods and Madonna were removed from the 9 ha camp into the 42 ha camp so that 327 could concentrate on getting to know Cathay. While in the bigger camp, TigerWoods and Madonna again hunted 1 blesbok successfully, proving that they have truly mastered their hunting techniques and could successfully hunt whenever the opportunity arose.

By now it was more than a month since 327’s arrival and it was time for him to meet Cathay face to face. On the given day, all was prepared in case the two did not like one another and started fighting, but this did not happen. The gate between the 4 ha camp and the quarantine camp was opened and Cathay came charging in, ecstatic to finally get close to her lover. Her behaviour in the previous days had indicated that she was in oestrus and she immediately displayed every sexual behaviour known to tigers to entice 327. He however was rather taken aback by this determined tigress and ran away from her. She would follow him and roll on the ground presenting herself to him, yet he continued to try to avoid her. What was encouraging was that he was not aggressive towards her and even though he did roar and swat at her, it was more due to his discomfort at her overt sexual behaviour than anything else. This encounter lasted a little more than an hour and by then 327 was truly irritated with Cathay, so they were separated again. Over the next few days they were put together every day and the same pattern repeated itself every day. Initially 327 was locked out of his cage and could not enter back in while he and Cathay met, but eventually his cage was left open so that he could retreat into its safety. He immediately did just that, but Cathay was not fooled. Despite her dislike for gates and confined spaces, she followed him into his cage and there, for a brief moment, 327 did mount Cathay. This was not a true mating because he was not in the correct position and it was very brief, but at least it proved he knew what was expected of him. Soon, Cathay’s oestrus cycle was over and she lost interest in 327, so she went back to the 4 ha camp and 327 had his centre all to himself again.

At the same time next door in the 9 ha camp, Madonna had become a woman as well and it was pretty clear that she too was having her first oestrus cycle. TigerWoods immediately became interested and over a 5 day period, he mounted Madonna up to six times a day. However, being a teenager he was very inexperienced being in the wrong position mounting her half way up her back and not penetrating at all. Once her cycle was over, Madonna became very angry at TigerWoods’ attempts and started avoiding him.

Approximately 26 days later, Cathay showed signs of being in oestrus again. When she was placed with 327, he was not interested at all and tried desperately to avoid her at all costs. It was decided to give TigerWoods a chance and he was placed with Cathay. Again over the next few days, he mounted Cathay regularly every day. His posture and position had by now improved considerably, but it was not possible to conclusively see whether he had actually penetrated Cathay. When her cycle had ended, TigerWoods went back to Madonna and she was delighted to have him back with her again. Her cycle had coincided with Cathays so this time she had lost out.

It had by now started warming up at Laohu Valley and spring was finally here. 327 had also developed an unhealthy bond with his cage to the extent that he almost did not want to go outside. Eventually, the centre will be needed to raise potential future cubs, so 327 has to get used to being a tiger and living outside. He was therefore locked out of his centre most days and nights and this did not make him very happy. For days he would pace around the building, ignoring the other tigers. After a week of this treatment, he started to interact more with the other tigers through the fence and was even excited and much more friendly when Cathay was introduced to him again. They even played with one another for a short while.

Over the next months, both Cathay and Madonna’s oestrus cycles will be monitored closely and both tigresses will be introduced to TigerWoods and 327 at the appropriate times to facilitate mating. There is a strong possibility that 327 might prefer Madonna to Cathay and that he may mate with her. The focus for now at Laohu Valley is firmly on allowing the tigers to breed, so they are all kept in the smaller camps where they can be monitored more closely. Hunting for now is not a priority and seeing that Cathay, TigerWoods and Madonna have proven over and over again that they are very efficient hunters, for now producing cubs will be the main objective.