I am just sick about this. We had 2 Amur tigers at our zoo. The male, Ivan, was fairly new. He was brought in as a mate for our 8 year old Zoya. They had been showing that the really like each other. Lots of rubbing and rolling and chuffing The had mated several times since February without problems. Wednesday, they were brought together again. Something went terribly wrong. Zoya suddenly attacked Ivan. He defended himself and fatally wounded her in the neck.

I have watched her grow up since she was a newborn. I have at least one photo of her in my gallery (I haven't looked recently). The only good out of this is that she will still be a mother. They harvested her eggs some time ago and they will artificially inseminate another female. Zoya's DNA is very highly coveted by the Species Survival Plan.

I just want to cry.