Week 229 (11 - 17 January 2008)

Bathing in the water troughs; Madonna annoys Cathay

Since there is no river in the 4 ha camp, the water trough becomes a substitute. This week all the tigers often climbed into the water troughs and had much fun there.

Cathay seemed to love this game the most. Even when she drinks water, she would climb into the water trough first. Since she is always sitting in the water trough, when TigerWoods wants to drink, there is no space for him. He then puts his front leg on her, which gives Cathay a fright and she quickly jumps out and runs away. When they were fed on Tuesday, once they were introduced into the quarantine camp, the first thing Cathay did was to climb into the water trough. Then they both smelt around the quarantine camp for a while, before TigerWoods climbed into the water trough as well. He was even smart enough to turn on the water tap and the water went everywhere.

Madonna often climbed into her water trough as well. However she seemed to have other ways of enjoying life. A springbok leg was found in her water trough. She must have had a snack while sitting in the bath!

Even though 327 lived inside the breeding centre most of the time, he soon learned to enjoy bathing in the water trough from watching the other tigers. However, since he is so big, after he climbs in and out several times, his water trough is nearly empty.

Madonna is being fed almost every day now, to acclimatise her to the breeding centre. This has given her a new way of annoying Cathay, which is to eat in front of her. On Friday afternoon, Madonna was fed a springbok in the indoor cage. She dragged it into the middle cage and began to eat happily. Once TigerWoods and Cathay were introduced into the quarantine camp, Madonna dragged the springbok carcass to the outdoor cage and began to eat in front of Cathay. Cathay seemed very angry and tried to hit her again through the bars. Luckily the food in the 4 ha camp soon caught her attention and attracted her back into the camp.

On Monday this happened again. Madonna was fed 3 springbok front legs in the breeding centre. Initially she took the leg to the middle cage and began to eat but soon she changed her mind and took it outside and ate in front of TigerWoods and Cathay. Both TigerWoods and Cathay anxiously paced in front of her. Madonna took the legs one by one and continued eating, while watching them pace.