Jean-Jacques Lesueur

Veterinarians are fighting to save a white tiger cub abandoned in a rubbish bin at an Athens zoo, believed to be a victim of the illegal wildlife trade.

The three-month old white tiger was found on February 28 under a garbage bin in the parking lot of the Attica Zoological Park by a cleaner, who notified the zoo owner.

An animal park in Athens on Wednesday said it had found a rare white tiger cub under a garbage bin nine days ago.

Attica Zoological Park said the four-month-old female cub was paralysed from the waist down.

The financial crisis is having a deadly impact on animals at Attica Zoological Park, Athens’ only zoo at Spata. Many of the zoo’s 1,200 animals require imported specialty foods but – as if the 23% VAT hike on animal feed were not enough – the government-imposed restrictions on cash are blocking the zoo’s ability to access foreign shipments.