Motherhood comes in all sizes and shapes. Sometimes when babies are orphaned a surrogate mother must be found. And it is not always the case that the surrogate mom will be of the same species. It really doesn't seem to matter most times either because the mothering instinct is so inherent and strong among mammals that minor or sometimes major differences are easily overlooked in the name of maternal instinct.

Currently in a zoo in Thailand , a situation came up when baby tigers were orphaned. Young tigers mature slowly and must be given milk for a long time. In the case of these baby tigers, their surrogate mom is a loving 2 1/2 yr. old chimpanzee named Dodo. Dodo has been trained by her zoo keepers to bottle feed the baby tigers and has been doing this over the period of a year. She is dedicated to taking care of her "kids", however occasionally, Dodo feels an overwhelming urge to just have a little fun herself. After all motherhood can be quite demanding!

Soon the tiger cubs will be too big and difficult to handle so other arrangements will be made. But in the meantime, Dodo does an excellent job in mothering her young charges. As we all know, in a mother's eyes her babies are the most beautiful and precious of all the babies in the world.