Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 13, 1993                   TAG: 9305130198
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ED SHAMY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TIGER WILL HAVE IT MADE IN THE SHADE

The lion's share of the $10,000 pool will be paid for with $8,000 contributed by Sue Collins of Roanoke. It was Collins' $10,000 donation in 1991 that capped the zoo's two-year fund drive, enabling contractors to begin work on a new habitat for the tiger.

"I'm a cat lover, and I guess the bigger, the better," said Collins. "It's just a shame all the animals can't have such palatial homes at our zoo. Maybe someday."

The remaining $2,000 came from contributions from zoo visitors who dropped coins in a box near the tiger exhibit, according to Beth Poff, the zoo's director.

On hot summer days, Ruby has squeezed her 350-pound frame into a steel cattle trough to beat the heat.

"Siberian tigers very much enjoy the water," she said. "They use it to cool off and will use it in the wild as a hunting device. Sometimes they'll drive a deer into the water."

Ruby, now almost 6 years old, lived in a converted corn crib when she first arrived on Mill Mountain. The zoo unexpectedly inherited the female tiger - mostly Siberian but perhaps mixed with Bengal - in 1988 after state game officials confiscated her from her illegal owner in Danville.

A pool was originally planned for the tiger exhibit, which cost $55,000 in all, but was ditched when money ran short.

All that was left was a hole in the dirt at the center of Ruby's new home.

Poff said work could begin within two weeks, laying concrete and preparing a small septic system for overflow water.

While the 190-square-foot pool is built, Ruby will be held in her holding pen - the former corn crib, said Poff. Most of the work will be done at night, when the tiger is usually in the holding pen anyway.