Posted on 02/08/2019 11:31:38 AM PST by dennisw
London Zoo say Melati was mauled to death by the male on their first encounter Asim, the male, had been kept in an adjoining enclosure prior to their meeting
The younger male killed Melati in an interaction which 'quickly escalated'
London Zoo's beloved female tiger Melati has been brutally mauled to death by her potential new mate while the two beasts were being introduced.
The zoo says 10-year-old Melati died Friday during her first encounter with Asim, a seven-year-old male who was shipped in from Denmark last month.
The two tigers had been kept in adjoining enclosures for 10 days so they could get used to one another, but their first interaction 'quickly escalated into a more aggressive interaction.'
The zoo says keepers intervened with loud noises, flares and alarms but were too late to save Melati.
It says staff are 'devastated by the loss of Melati, and we are heartbroken by this turn of events.'
Zoologists had hoped the two tigers would breed as part of a Europe-wide tiger conservation program for the endangered Sumatran subspecies.
The zoo's head tiger keeper Kathryn Sanders said last month: 'Asim arrived yesterday after catching the ferry from France and immediately made himself at home in his new, cosy den.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Did Asim scream “allah snackbar” first?
I know how that male votes....
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