Zoo director wants tiger cub to remain in Moldova

The director of the Chisinau Zoological Garden Alexei Hantsatsuc would like the tiger cub that was born in August to remain in Moldova. “Our tigress is old and it was a wonder that she gave birth at such an age. We want the female cub to remain at our Zoo. But it will be hard it as we need additional financial resources,” the Zoo director stated for Info-Prim Neo. According to him, it is not costly to keep a tiger and the Zoological Garden does not experience problems in feeding the animals, but it is very expensive to build a new cage. “The cub can stay with the parents for a year or a year and a half at the most, but then the parents will drive it away. The construction of a modern cage for a tiger costs a lot and we now do not have the necessary money,” said Alexei Hantsatsuc. He also said that the cub hasn’t been in its parents’ cage for a period. “Several weeks ago, it was taken by a family that has 30 years’ experience and its own method of raising cubs. Even if the cub does not remain at our Zoo, it will not be taken into the wild. It must get used to the people so that it attacks no one,” said the director. Now the cub is back, but is held in a separate cage until a decision is taken as to his fate. “We proposed exchanging it, but don’t know what will happen. The cub won’t be sold to a private individual. It may be exchanged or sold to a circus,” said Alexei Hantsatsuc. He also said that the two tiger cubs that were born at the Chisinau Zoological Garden earlier were bought by the famous Ukrainian trainer Vladimir Shevchenko, who has headed the National Circus of Ukraine since 2007.