Zoo to replace tigress killed in mate introduction

A zoo has said it will replace a female tiger which was killed during an introduction to a male.

Eight-year-old Amur tiger Valentina sustained fatal injuries when meeting five-year-old male Pasha for the first time at Marwell Zoo near Winchester, Hampshire, on 1 July.

Animal operations manager Ian Goodwin said the pair's interactions had been "brilliant" before the incident.

He said the zoo's tiger breeding programme would resume with a new female in the future.

Valentina had been at Marwell for five years, having arrived from Hodonin Zoo in Croatia in 2020, when Pasha arrived in February from Port Lympne Safari Park.

Previously, the Hampshire zoo said the pair were "spotted interacting... through the fence line between their habitats".

Mr Goodwin told BBC Radio Solent: "They were chuffing to each other. The interactions were brilliant between the two animals.

"It went very, very well initially. And then unfortunately something triggered in that wild instinct of an animal - that's what happens."

Staff monitoring the tigers acted swiftly to draw Pasha away, the zoo previously said.

However, Valentina had already been fatally injured.

Mr Goodwin said: "We'll do a wash up of what happened - 'Can we do things a bit differently next time?'

"But to be honest with you, with my experience, the answer is probably no.

"We need to focus now on bringing another female in ready for when we start breeding again the future."

In 2022, a tigress was killed by a male tiger during a breeding attempt at Knowsley Safari Park at Prescot, Merseyside.

Staff at London Zoo used airhorns and fire extinguishers in 2019 in a failed attempt to stop a male Sumatran tiger from killing his potential mate.

Several European zoos are part of a breeding programme aimed at protecting the endangered species.

Only about 500 Amur tigers remain in the wild in eastern Russia, north-east China and North Korea.