Milwaukee zoo hand raises Amur tiger cub to save its life

HOLD FOR STORY BY CARRIE ANTLFINGER - In this Dec. 12, 2016, photo, the Amur tiger cub Kashtan looks at a camera at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee. Kashtan is being hand-raised by staff _ an unusual undertaking for a zoo. Kashtan had an infection at about a month old and had to be separated so medical staff could care for him. He was gone for about a month and zoo officials didn't know whether the mother would take him back and didn't want to risk his health or safety. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger) (The Associated Press)

HOLD FOR STORY BY CARRIE ANTLFINGER - In this Dec. 12, 2016, photo, Kashtan, an Amur tiger cub, plays with a toy at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee where he is being hand-raised away from his mother and two sisters by staff _ an unusual undertaking for a zoo. He had an infection at about a month old and had to be separated so medical staff could care for him. He was gone for about a month and zoo officials didn't know whether the mother would take him back and didn't want to risk his health or safety. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger) (The Associated Press)

HOLD FOR STORY BY CARRIE ANTLFINGER - This Dec. 12, 2016, photo, shows Kashtan, an Amur tiger cub, looking up at a towel at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee where he is being hand-raised by staff _ an unusual undertaking for a zoo. Kitten had an infection at about a month old and had to be separated to be cared for. Zoo officials didn't know whether the mother would take him back and didn't want to risk his health or safety. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger) (The Associated Press)

Milwaukee County Zoo officials are hand-raising an Amur tiger cub — an unusual undertaking only done in order to save the cub's life.

Officials had to give special care to the cub named Kashtan after he developed an infection that killed one of his three sisters.

Katie Kuhn, an area supervisor at the zoo, says he recovered about a month later but they didn't know if mother Amba would still recognize him or if she would protect her other cubs because he had been sick.

They now visit him four times a day for feeding and play. They also bring in his two sisters three hours a day.

The zoo's vet, Dr. Vickie Clyde, says his situation helped with early detection of the same infection in sister Bernadette.