Rare tiger mauled to death in cat fight at safari park
Conservationists alarmed at second death of an endangered species in the space of one week
AN AMUR tiger has been killed by another tiger at a Wiltshire safari park just one week after a similar fatal mauling at London Zoo.
Shouri, a 13-year-old, had lived with its sister Soundari since 2006 in one of the park’s three tiger paddocks at Longleat in Wiltshire. They were kept apart from two newer tigers, Red and Yana, a breeding pair of Siberian Amurs which arrived in June last year on a European Endangered Species Programme.
On Monday, Shouri entered a paddock where Red and Yana were being held, after a door was left open while the tigers were being moved. A fight broke out between the cats, which are typically up to 10ft long and larger, heavier and stronger than their Asian cousins, weighing up to 47st (300kg).
Officials are investigating the circumstances of Shouri’s death. The park was closed at the time of the attack. Last week, 10-year-old Malati, a Sumatran tigress, was mauled to death by another tiger at London Zoo. The female was attacked after being introduced to the other tiger as part of a conservation breeding programme.
Dr Chris Draper, head of animal welfare and captivity at the conservation charity Born Free, said he was shocked at the proximity of the two incidents.
“Tigers are highly territorial and the sudden appearance of another in the enclosure would inevitably lead to aggression. Sadly, Shouri died as a result,” he said. “We now have two incidents within a week where introductions of tigers – one deliberate, one accidental – have resulted in death.”
He added: “I have no doubt that the team responsible are devastated at the loss of Shouri. But it seems that time and again we are being confronted with accidents and escapes in British zoos.” The Amur tiger is classified as an endangered species, with around 540 remaining worldwide and 47 in British and Irish zoos.
The deaths come after a number of recent mishaps at UK zoos. In November, Howletts zoo, near Canterbury, Kent, failed to report a cheetah escape that led to the deaths of two deer.
Last month, a red panda cub escaped from Belfast Zoo after an electrical fault in the enclosure’s fence, and during the same month two Humboldt penguins were stolen from an unnamed zoo in Nottinghamshire but were later returned unharmed.