In April 2001, Tv's veterinarian Rob Zammit of Windsor, Sydney, and his wife Fiona Fearon, adopted three, 7 week old Bengal Tiger cubs that had been abandoned by their mother shortly after birth. Zammitt's German Shepherd dog acted as a surrogate mum to the youngsters. At the time, there were heavy rains and the scared parent's of the cubs, instinctively dumped them to focus on their own survival. The German Shepherd named 'Pepper' has taken on many housekeeping duties of the parents such as grooming and supervising the cub's toilet training and she relishes in this parental role.
The cubs are part of the private zoo collection of the Bullen family, widely recognised as the former animal park and circus owners. The cubs are expected to return to the Bullen family within a few weeks but will be separated from the parents in the event of a hostile reaction to the cubs' return.
Meanwhile, Pepper and the cubs happily fill in their time playing together.