Zoya, a tiger at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, died after an attempt to breed her with a male tiger named Ivan turned aggressive on Wednesday.
Ivan came to the zoo in December as part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommendation to breed with Zoya.
Over the past few months, zoo employees observed positive breeding interactions between the two. They mated successfully several times earlier in the week, but on Wednesday Zoya became aggressive with Ivan during a breeding session.
Zoo keepers were monitoring the situation from behind a fence in one of the indoor dens in the tiger building. When Zoya became aggressive they used a CO2 fire extinguisher to separate the tigers. Unfortunately Zoya received a life-threatening injury to her neck as Ivan defended himself against her.
She passed away a few hours later. Ivan had no significant injuries from the altercation.
Zoya was born at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on June 19, 2008. After her mother proved unable to care for her, she was lovingly hand-reared by Zoo staff from every department around the clock for several months.
"Zoya was born here. We raised her. We cared for her. We trained with her. We were so hopeful that she'd have cubs, but we knew even if she didn't, she'd continue making people fall in love with tigers and help them want to save tigers in the wild," Rachael Hahn, Asian Highlands animal keeper, said. "I cannot put into words the loss that is felt by our entire Zoo family over her passing."
In December, after years of failed breeding attempts between Zoya and the Zoo's former Amur tiger, Grom, Ivan moved to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for renewed attempts to allow Zoya to breed.
Ivan had proven his breeding capabilities, siring three cubs at his previous zoo. Ivan was specifically chosen to be a new mate for Zoya because of their genetic compatibility. Zoya's genes are very under-represented within the SSP, and it was the Zoo's hope that Ivan and Zoya would be a successful breeding pair to help sustain the captive population of this critically endangered species.
In an attempt to preserve Zoya's genetic line, her eggs were harvested and will be fertilized by previously collected semen from Grom. They will be cryogenically frozen until another female tiger can be implanted in an attempt to carry on Zoya's bloodline.
