Mother to Tigers

One day in 1942, Helen Martini’s husband Fred, who worked at the Bronx Zoo, brought home a tiger cub. Helen cared for the cub until he was ready to return to the zoo, and soon took in three more. She created a nursery at the Bronx Zoo, the first of its kind, so she could care for more baby animals, including lemurs, gorillas, and chimpanzees. Before Helen became the first female zookeeper at the Bronx Zoo, no tiger born there had survived-she raised twenty-seven. Full-color illustrations. Author’s note.