A female Labrador retriever will be the nanny for a baby South China tiger that has yet to be born at Nanchang Zoo.

Managers at the zoo in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, are using the retriever as a replacement mother because of the mother tiger's recent history of neglect. Three babies delivered by the mother tiger in the past have died.

Currently, there are no more than 100 South China tigers living in zoos across the country, official sources said.

The Labrador retriever, which was raised by a Nanchang resident, will move to the zoo before the baby tiger is born at the end of September, zoo managers said.