A FEMALE Bengal tiger was mauled to death by a male tiger in a group of four at Shenzhen Safari Park on Saturday.
The incident happened at around 4 p.m. and lasted about 10 minutes. Keepers were unable to drive the tigers away to save the female, a witness said.
The male tiger gripped the smaller female until it was motionless. The male tiger roared after releasing its grip, said the witness, Zhao.
We were frightened by the roar, said a tourist surnamed Zhang.
The four tigers, two males and two females, were relocated from Yunnan Safari Park in May with the approval of the State Forestry Administration, Shenzhen Safari Park said Saturday.
According to the park management, the four tigers were initially kept in separate enclosures but shared an exercise area when they first came to Shenzhen. When the tigers became familiar with their surroundings, the zoo built a 400-square-meter exercise yard for them and they went on public display in September.
The Bengal tiger, or Royal Bengal tiger, is a subspecies of tiger native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. It is the most numerous of the tiger subspecies with populations estimated at 1,800 in these countries.
(Han Ximin)
