No evidence to suggest that these camouflaged piglets were placed on the Tigress to cure her depression - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 2, 2022
An image of five piglets adorned in tiger-skin type costumes laying on a tigress is being shared on social media claiming that she was given these piglets dressed like cubs in order to cure her depression caused due to the death of her cubs. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Piglets dressed like cubs were given to a mother tiger to cure her depression caused due to the death of her cubs.
Fact: The image shows the Bengal tigress named ‘Saimai’ at Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Thailand. The same image has been viral at least since 2006. Apart from breeding the tigers, this Zoo is a host to special attractions like tiger playing with the camouflaged piglets, dogs and female pig feeding tiger cubs.  This Tiger Zoo has a reputation for creating successful relationships between animals of different species. This act is a part of plan by the Zoo organisers to tame the tigers by getting them accustomed to other animals. There is no evidence to suggest that the camouflaged piglets were given to tigress to cure her depression. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
We ran a reverse image search of the viral photo and came across a Snopes article which debunked the similar claim in 2006. According to this article, the image shows the Bengal tigress named ‘Saimai’ at Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Thailand.
According to Pattaya Mail and Animal welfare institute, Sriracha Tiger Zoo has a reputation for creating successful relationships between animals of different species. ‘Sai mai’ was 2-year-old (in 2003) and as a baby was suckled by a pig until she was 4 months. This democratic start in life allowed her to form a loving relationship with other pigs and even a dog.
Although the Sriracha Tiger Zoo is off the beaten track, it is nonetheless quite a famous zoo, with one of the world’s most successful breeding programs for tigers. But breeding tigers is not its only agenda. Entertaining and fascinating shows bring in the crowds of visitors to this unique zoo. Visitors recently witnessed some bizarre feeding habits of the zoo’s most famous inhabitants. A two-year-old female pig named Benjamaj has taken 4 baby tigers under her care and along with 3 tiny piglets is nursing the tigers as though she were their mother.
Also, according to news reports, this act is a part of plan by the Zoo organisers to tame the tigers by getting them accustomed to other species of animals. If the tigers are tamed well-enough, they may end up in the circus-performances at the Zoo.
To sum it up, no evidence to suggest that the camouflaged piglets were given to the tigress to cure its depression.