Swiss Shepherd dog adopts abandoned tiger cubs at Russian zoo

Two male tiger cubs, Olymp and Dar, and their sister, Tallim, were abandoned by their birth mother at the Russian zoo where they were born on November 14.

It was the second time this year their mother, tigress Bagira, refused to feed her offspring.

At first, zoo staff at the Oktyabrsky Zoo in the Black Sea resort of Sochi sought a surrogate tiger mother, but they have since filled the position with a Russian dog, the Telegraph reports.

Tallim, a white Swiss Shepherd after whom the female cub was named, feeds and nurtures the cubs. Despite a rocky beginning — the cubs hissed and showed their claws at first — the cubs and their surrogate mother are now all getting along.

Zoo staff reassure that the cubs pose no threat to the dog.