Rare male tiger kills proposed mate in first meeting at Zoo

LONDON: In a tragic incident, a tiger killed tigress who were kept together in a hope that the two would breed as part of a Europe-wide tiger conservation program for the endangered Sumatran subspecies.

The London Zoo kept its newly arrived male Sumatran tiger Asim in a separate enclosure for ten days from Melati, the female tiger who was supposed to become his mate.

To get used to each other’s presence and smells, the Zoologists gave Asim and Melati time and waited for the right time to let them get together, but on Friday, when the Zoologists put them into the same enclosure, Asim killed Melati.

Emergency plans called for handlers to use loud noises, flares and alarms to distract the tigers, but that didn’t worked out. However, they did manage to put Asim back in a separate paddock but by that time Melati was already dead.

According to the report published in the Hindustan Times, the London zoo in its statement said: “Everyone here at ZSL London Zoo is devastated by the loss of Melati and we are heartbroken by this turn of events.”

The zoo said that its experts had been completely watching the Tigers reactions to each other since Asim arrived and had seen “positive signs” that showed the two should be put together. Their introduction began as predicted but quickly escalated into a more aggressive interaction.