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ZSL London Zoo Sumatran tiger Melati killed by Asim

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by oflory, 8 Feb 2019.

  1. oflory

    oflory Well-Known Member 10+ year member Premium Member

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    Terrible news.

    Today our beloved Sumatran tigress Melati died while being introduced to new male Asim for the first time.

    Everyone at ZSL London Zoo is heartbroken by this turn of events. Tiger Territory will remain closed while our team focus on caring for Asim:https://goo.gl/CYtfwM
     
  2. banham.tiger

    banham.tiger Well-Known Member

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    Terrible shame :(
     
  3. robert everett

    robert everett Well-Known Member

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    how devastating
     
  4. amaroc

    amaroc Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Tragic news, she was a stunning creature :(
     
  5. Crowthorne

    Crowthorne Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Devastating :( she was a beautiful tigress
     
  6. Zia

    Zia Well-Known Member

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    This is awful - I don't quite know what to say.
     
  7. robert everett

    robert everett Well-Known Member

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    ZSL are not having much luck at the moment with their megafauna. Very very sad
     
  8. Panthera1981

    Panthera1981 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Agreed. What with the elephant situation at Whipsnade, 2019 has not started well for ZSL.
     
  9. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    What a tragic loss. I saw Melati once at London, and she was a stunning tigress. I’ve visited a lot of her family across the Australian and New Zealand zoos as well.

    Is it normal in the UK zoos to introduce tigers this quick (just over a week since the male arrived)? In Australasia, zoos take months or even years introducing Sumatran tigers.
     
  10. Zooreviewsuk

    Zooreviewsuk Well-Known Member

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    How unbelievably sad.

    I'm really surprised by the honesty in this report, unless it was witnessed by the public and they had to release the statement this way.
     
  11. Panthera1981

    Panthera1981 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I wondered this myself. Surely the new male would be still familiarising himself with his new surroundings? It’s seems an awfully quick turnaround.

    Now amongst the main headlines on Sky and the BBC.
     
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  12. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    It is terrible news. But I am sure that ZSL were absolutely right to announce it immediately. Any delay would gain nothing and just cause accusations of a cover-up. Honesty is not just the best policy, it is the only sensible one too.
     
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  13. robert everett

    robert everett Well-Known Member

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    I imagine London zoo will find a another tiger quicker than most zoos as they coordinate the European breeding program
     
  14. polarbear

    polarbear Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Totally agree with the honesty part - better to let people know about the complexities of breeding animals / running a zoo, rather than trying to cover up. It would have got out somehow so best that the zoo had full control of the story.
     
  15. LucasRyan

    LucasRyan Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  16. pipaluk

    pipaluk Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I think you may be right, London are now left with a problem that may not be resolved very easily or quickly. They were probably hoping to have cubs on show for the summer, now they will potentially have just a single male in one of their flagship exhibits!
    I'm not sure they would want to risk him with another female, one tragedy is unfortunate, but a second one would get terrible publicity for a high profile zoo like London. I think he will be moved on as soon as a new pair become available and they can find somewhere to take him. How long that will be though is anyone's guess.
     
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  17. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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  18. HOMIN96

    HOMIN96 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    That depends on how highly the coordinator values his genes. If his bloodline isn't represented much, they will certainly try that again. You can always give him sedatives or something.
     
  19. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I was surprised to hear the new male had a history of aggression towards a female; though I imagine this was put down to a clash of personality i.e. not every pair is going to get on.

    At the Wellington Zoo in 1990, their male Sumatran tiger killed his mate (I believe this is to date the only such occurrence in an Australasian Zoo), and it was put down to them being introduced too quickly (they were introduced over 6-12 months). A replacement female arrived a year later and was successfully introduced to the male over 18 months, and they went on to produce two litters of cubs.

    Given Asim has now been unsuccessful with two females (and killed one), I believe they would be wise not to attempt introductions with a third female.
     
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  20. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    If they really need his genes, AI (through sedation) would be an option. It has been done with Temminck’s golden cat and Fishing cat before for similar reasons.

    However, would they want his genes (including traits of aggression) passed on to a new generation of cubs? I don’t know his family history, but surely there is a brother or nephew somewhere that is of equal (or almost equal) genetic value that may not have inherited these aggressive traits.
     
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