For months, tigers Zoya and Ivan at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo showed signs they couldn’t stay away from one other.
But when they got together to mate Wednesday, something “went horribly wrong,” zookeeper Rachael Hahn said in an email sent to zoo supporters.
“After five months of positive breeding interactions between the two, and two days this week of successfully breeding several times,” the zoo said in a statement, “tragically, Zoya became aggressive with Ivan during a breeding session late (Wednesday) afternoon.”
Zoya, a rare and endangered Amur tiger, received a cut to her neck that led to her death, zoo officials said. She was 8 years old. Ivan, who was brought to the zoo in December to breed with Zoya, was not seriously hurt in the fight, officials said.
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