A Siberian tiger cub was recovering after a successful operation on Saturday to remove cataracts at a hospital in east China's Zhejiang Province.

The three-month-old female tiger cub was the first in the world to undergo such an operation, said Prof. Yao Ke, a noted doctor with the second hospital of the Medical Institute of prestigious Zhejiang University.

The tiger was born in a zoo in Hangzhou and was raised on dog milk powder. The feeder found it often walked into the wall and its eyes appeared foggy and white.

The hospital diagnosed the problem as congenital cataracts.

Prof. Yao said he had done thousands of human cataract operations in the past three-decade medical career, but the tiger required special treatment as both eyes and its claws must be wrapped for days.

More than 3,000 people had inquired after the animal and sent advice in letters and phone calls. Students from the medical college have volunteered to give it post-operative care at the zoo.

The tiger was expected to recover in two or three days, Prof. Yao said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2003)