Chinese doctors with a hospital based in Harbin, the capital city of the northernmost Heilongjiang Province, removed a broken tooth from a two-year-old white tiger on Saturday.

Zhang Zhongfeng, a veterinarian with the Harbin Siberian Tiger Park, said the Bengali tiger kept in the park had suffered from a broken tooth since Aug. 12 and had lost appetite for food.

"At first, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the tiger. But later when it opened its mouth, I found one tooth on the left side of his mouth had half missing and the gum around the broken tooth was swollen and bleeding," said Zhang.

The keeper soon discovered the lost half in the tiger shed. Park workers believed that the tiger might have broken the tooth while biting the iron cage.

Gong Yu, head of the stomatology department with the no. 211 Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), and his team removed the broken tooth and added fillings in the gum.

A false tooth will be put in soon, said Gong.

Around 100 tigers are kept at the park, situated in the suburbs of Harbin, including nine Bengali tigers.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2003)