Female Tiger Dies During Mating Attempt
Mating is not easy for any species and this is especially the case for tigers. Recently a female tiger that was housed in California’s Sacramento Zoo died following an attack by a male tiger during a mating attempt that went horribly wrong. Mohan the male tiger was sent from the Memphis Zoo to mate with a female tiger Baha. However according to a statement by Sacramento Zoo, Mohan became aggressive with Baha during a physical introduction.
The first time the tigers met
This was the first physical meeting of the Sumatran tigers. The Zoo has been keeping an eye on the behaviour of the two tigers for a number of moths. Both the male and female had engaged in eye contact, however this was probably for all the wrong reasons. Officials from zoo decided the two tigers were ready to meet, but the male tiger Mohan became aggressive as soon as Baha entered the enclosure. Handlers of the animals quickly tried to separate the two tigers.
“As soon as staff (was) able to get the male tiger into a secure location veterinarians rushed to care for Baha, but unfortunately she had already passed,” the zoo said.
Successful breeding program
For its part Sacramento Zoo said it has successfully bred tigers since the 1960’s. Baha has been living at the zoo since 2002 and is survived by five offspring from earlier successful breeding attempts with the zoo’s former breeding male tiger named Castro. Castro however had to be euthanized in 2014 after being treated for Lymphoma. Castro was 16 ½ years old making him the oldest breeding male in the United States when he was alive. Mohan has also participated in successful breeding attempts making the incident very unusual. He has been removed from the public viewing area and is now being monitored.
Over the last hundred years, four of nine tiger subspecies have become extinct in their natural habitats Sacramento Zoo said in a statement. It is believed that there are less than 500 Sumatran tigers left in the wild with a further 200 living in zoos around the world.
