by BARRY WIGMORE

Last updated at 22:26 30 November 2007

On the heartwarming scale this

rates as a positive scorcher.

A forlorn tigress, heartbroken

because her own cubs have died, is

fooled into adopting a litter of piglets

when zoo officials in California wrap

them in tiger skins.

Such a thing had never been tried

before, according to the email which

accompanied these pictures as they were

sent around the world.

Unfortunately, there was a twist in the

tiger's tale.

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Though the pictures have not been

faked, an animal welfare pressure group

investigated and discovered they were

actually taken at a zoo in Thailand.

The Sriracha Tiger Zoo, an hour's drive

from Bangkok, has been accused of causing

its exhibits unnecessary suffering,

and of using stunts to gain publicity.

These pictures must have been part of

such a set-up, say experts, because it was

unnecessary to wrap the piglets in their

cute little tiger-skin coats.

It is apparently common practice in

Thailand for tigers to suckle pigs, and for

pigs to adopt orphaned cubs.

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The tigress

in these pictures was herself brought up

by a sow, and sees pigs as family.

Though she had been given these babies

to bring up, it is unclear whether she had

lost a litter of her own, as the story

claimed.

In another twist, the zoo has been investigated

for allegedly breeding tigers for

export to China - where tiger parts command

high prices for use in traditional

medicines.

Sommai Temsiripong, one of

the zoo's owners, was charged with

breeding tigers without a licence. On

another occasion 23 tigers died of bird flu

after being fed infected raw chickens.

Critics say that behind the scenes tigers

are bred in poor conditions and the the

London Zoological Society has been critical

of Sriracha's animal husbandry.

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Adam Roberts, an investigator with Animal Welfare

International, the respected American

pressure group which investigated the pictures, wrote in its quarterly

magazine that the zoo - with more

than 400 tigers, a handful of Asian

elephants, of crocodiles, camels,

snakes and other exotic animals -

had many troubling exhibits.

It

also houses a circus, he said, where

he saw tigers leaping through rings

of fire, walking across a double

tightrope, parading around the

ring on hind legs, and riding on the

back of a horse.

"Up close, however,

one could clearly see the animals'

debilitation and fear," he added.

"All of the animals awaited their

turn to perform in a gated tunnel,

keepers constantly poking them

with a steel pole through the iron

mesh."

Behind the scenes, bored

elephants swayed at the end of 2ftlong

chains anchored to the

ground.

One had a long, deep scar

across his ear - another was

scarred across her trunk.

"After the

show, the elephants stood in frot

of the seats taking money from

people with their trunks and passing

it to the trainers astride their

backs," Mr Roberts reported.

The zoo denies any wrongdoing.