Female tiger dies in a mating attempt gone wrong

She was killed in a tragic breeding encounter at the zoo before the gates opened, when male tiger Mohan attacked Baha as the pair was physically introduced for the first time.

The zoo staff made efforts to save Baha, but were unable to save her.

Zoo officials said they have been monitoring the tigers’ behavior from separate enclosures that were next to each other and believed that their behavior showed that it was okay for them to meet.

Today less than 500 Sumatran tigers exist in the wild, and just 200 live in zoos throughout the world.

“We are truly devastated at the passing of Baha” said Matt McKim, Animal Collection Director.

“Genetically these cubs are really important, because Kaitlyn, their mother, is what we call a new founder to the breeding program”, Mr Clark said.

Baha had been at the Sacramento Zoo since 2002 and had successfully bred with three other partners, giving birth to five offspring.

Doty said the Memphis Zoo is not sure what will happen to Mohan because he belongs to the Sacramento Zoo, but they will continue to work with zoo officials going forward.

A tiger from the Memphis Zoo killed a tiger from the Sacramento Zoo.

The Sacramento Zoo responded: ‘We can’t thank you enough for your post.

“Within the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and North America a number of zoos get together and collaborate and cooperate breeding and propagation of endangered animals”, said the Memphis Zoo Curator, Farshid Mehrdadfar.

The cubs are still too young to go on public display, but zoo visitors will be able to see them from next month.