A tiger cub that was rescued from a Chinese restaurant's cooking pot has now gone missing from a zoo in Malaysia's southern state of Malacca and officials believe it may have been stolen.
"The tiger cub has been missing since late Wednesday. We conducted an extensive search in the zoo and surroundings areas but we have been unsuccessful," said Mohamad Nawayai, zoo director.
"I tend to believe now that the tiger cub has been stolen."
The cub was originally rescued by S.H. Foo, Malaysia's Trade Commissioner to Papua New Guinea.
He heard from friends that the three-month-old cub had been caught by villagers in the central state of Pahang and taken to the restaurant.
He offered to buy the tiger from the restaurant and had it delivered to his home before handing it over to the wildlife department.
Foo declined to say how much he paid but the Star newspaper said it was believed to be more than 10,000 ringgit (2,666 dollars).
Nawayai said the tiger cub named Nicky was in good health and appealed to anyone who may have taken it to return the animal to the zoo.
"It is illegal to keep a tiger. You can be fined and jailed if you are caught keeping a tiger," he said.
Zoo officials will lodge a police report Friday.
"I feel very bad. I suspect some negligence on our part contributed to this unfortunate incident," Nawayai said.
