Fatal attraction: Rare Sumatran tiger kills potential mate on first date
London [UK], Feb 9 (ANI): Call it being catty or lack of love, but an endangered Sumatran tiger was mauled to death at London Zoo on Friday, mere moments after it was introduced to a potential mate for the first time.
ANI
Feb 09, 2019 17:37 IST
London [UK], Feb 9 (ANI): Call it being catty or lack of love, but an endangered Sumatran tiger was mauled to death at London Zoo on Friday, mere moments after it was introduced to a potential mate for the first time.
The tigress Melati, a long-term resident of the zoo, was introduced to a new male tiger, Asim, on Friday, in hope that the pair would breed. However, keepers were devastated, when Asim, fatally attacked Melati, reported CNN.
Asim had arrived at the London Zoo (ZSL) just 10 days earlier.
The zoo issued a statement saying, "Everyone at ZSL London Zoo is devastated by the loss of Melati, and we are heartbroken by this turn of events.”
The zoo said that while introducing big cats always involves risk, experts had observed positive signs and deemed it to be the "right time" to introduce the pair.
The keepers reported that the introduction of the pair started as "predicted," but it descended quickly into a "more aggressive interaction."
London Zoo describes Sumatran tigers as the "rarest and smallest subspecies of tigers" in the world, and are native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. (ANI)
Tags:
Get the App
