Author: Yonette Joseph / Source: New York Times
Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press
LONDON — The courtship went on for 10 whole days. They were kept apart, but tantalizingly close enough so that each could see, hear and smell the other.
When the matchmakers believed that the time and the place were right — Friday at London Zoo — the rare Sumatran tiger called Asim and a female named Melati were put in the same enclosure together.
He promptly killed her — moments after they were introduced for the first time.
The animal’s handlers scrambled in vain to intervene, the zoo said, “using loud noises, flares and alarms to try and distract the pair, but Asim had already overpowered Melati.”
Keepers eventually were able to shepherd Asim into a separate paddock so that they could safely get to Melati, the zoo said. Vets then confirmed that she had died.
“Everyone at ZSL London Zoo is devastated by the loss of Melati, and we are heartbroken by this turn of events,” the zoo added in a statement.
Melati was 10 and had been a longtime resident of the zoo. Asim, age 7, arrived from Ree Park Safari in Denmark on Jan. 29 with an announcement that trumpeted “New stripes in town.”
“Asim was chauffeured to the zoo in a custom-designed travel crate…
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