Calgary Zoo staff are trying to save a newborn Siberian tiger cub after she was rejected by her mother shortly after her birth.
Katja gave birth to the unnamed cub Tuesday much to the delight of zoo staff.
The mother tiger appeared to bond with her cub. But by mid-afternoon, her behaviour had changed.
"As the day progressed, she was showing less and less interest and it was clear she wasn't going to return to the cub that she had rejected it," said Dr. Jake Veasey, the zoo's director of animal care.
Staff said when a mother leaves her young, it's often because she senses a congenital problem.
Veterinarians found the cub to be dehydrated and its body temperature to be slow in spite of being in a heated den.
Staff made the difficult decision to intervene, providing the feeding, warmth and care that Katja failed to give her offspring. The cub is currently in stable condition in intensive care.
But the tiny cat cannot go back to her mother and the other tigers any time soon. It's now up to humans to play the role of tiger parents.
"Our next challenge is raising this tiger to believe it's still a tiger, to try and show its behaviours and mannerisms, to have it exposed to other tigers. So when we do reintroduce her, it's already been part of her life experience," Veasey said.
Zoocheck Canada doesn't believe the zoo or its staff are to blame for the cub's health or the mother rejecting her. But they say Katja should not have been bred, pointing out that she lost two cubs in September.
One died shortly after birth while the other lived for a few days before it died too.
"These animals are bred for display purposes," said R.J. Bailot with Zoocheck Canada. "Real breeding programs, conservation programs concentrate on a quick turnaround and getting the animals out of captivity as soon as possible."
In the meantime, the cub will be given a diet of special formula as close to tiger milk as possible. She is also constantly under the supervision of a veterinarian.
Siberian tigers are considered endangered and their population continues to decline. Recent counts show there are fewer than 400 adult Siberian tigers left in the wild.
