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September 6, 2008 1:35:53 AM CDT

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Med Student's Kiss of Life Saves Tiger Cub

Posted Feb 3, 08 12:16 PM CST in Science & Health,  World 

(Newser) – A medical student sprang into action when she spotted a tiger cub choking on a piece of meat at a German zoo—and gave the animal mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, or as Der Speigel reports, "mouth-to-muzzle" CPR. "The little baby tiger was gnawing meat off a bone. All of a sudden he couldn't breathe and lost consciousness," said the student, a 24-year-old mom visiting the zoo with her own baby.

A zookeeper tried to remove the offending piece of meat, but his hands were too big. So the woman entered the enclosure, wrested the meat from the four-month-old cub's mouth, pumped his heart and locked lips to give him the breath of life. "It was just like an infant," she said. "It took four or five endless minutes, but then the tiger was growling again." In gratitude, the zoo is naming the cub Johann, after the life-saving mom's year-old son.  

Source Der Spiegel

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A tiger cub similar to this one was saved by a medical student when it choked on a piece of meat at a German zoo. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)   (Associated Press)
SAFRICA-SOUTH-CHINA-TIGER   (Getty Images)
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zoo  • zookeeper  • tiger  • CPR  • mouth-to-mouth resuscitation


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