LONDON: The courtship went on for 10 whole days. They were kept apart, but tantalizingly close enough so that each could see, hear and smell the other.
When the matchmakers believed that the time and the place were right — Friday at
London Zoo — the rare
Sumatran tiger called
Asim and a female named Melati were put in the same enclosure together. The animals “were initially cautious,” but then the introduction "quickly escalated into a more aggressive interaction. He killed her — moments after they were introduced for the first time.
The animal’s handlers scrambled in vain to intervene, the zoo said, "using loud noises, flares and alarms to try and distract the pair, but Asim had already overpowered Melati". Keepers eventually were able to shepherd Asim into a separate paddock so that they could safely get to Melati, the zoo said. Vets then confirmed that she had died. "Everyone at ZSL London Zoo is devastated... and we are heartbroken," the zoo said. Melati was 10 and had been a longtime resident of the zoo. Asim, age 7, arrived from Ree Park Safari in Denmark on January 29."
The head tiger keeper, Kathryn Sanders, described Asim as "a handsome, confident cat who is known for being very affectionate with the ladies in his life — we’re hoping he’ll be the perfect mate for our beautiful Melati". The match was organised as part of a Europe-wide conservation programme for Sumatran tigers, an endangered subspecies. The tiger is found in the wild only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and the World Wide Fund for Nature says that fewer than 400 exist today, down from an estimated 1,000 in 1978.
The zoo was optimistic about the two animals getting along . The tigers were placed in the same enclosure after "careful monitoring," the zoo said, in which experts "observed positive signs". "As with all big cats, introductions... are always considered to be high risk."