[FEL-L] San Fran Zoo wants mate for surviving tiger

[BigCatSimba at aol.com]

San Fran Zoo wants mate for surviving tiger 
Jan 14, 2008 6:00 AM (1 hr 33 mins ago) by _John Upton_ 
(http://www.examiner.com/Topic-By_John_Upton.html) , The  Examiner  
SAN FRANCISCO (_Map_ (http://www.examiner.com/map.cfm?latlong=37.7753 
-122.4186&dateline=SAN FRANCISCO) ,  _News_ 
(http://www.examiner.com/Dateline-SAN%20FRANCISCO.html) ) - Zoo  officials hope to find a new partner for a Siberian 
tiger that has been locked  alone inside a labyrinth of Lion House cages since 
its platonic mate was shot  dead after it attacked three zoo visitors. 
Tatiana, the 4-year-old tiger who escaped its enclosure on Dec. 25 and killed 
 _Carlos Sousa_ (http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Carlos_Sousa.html)  and  
attacked two other men before it was shot by police, was brought to The City in  
2005 for an older male tiger named Tony, according to _San Francisco  Zoo_ 
(http://www.examiner.com/Subject-San_Francisco_Zoo.html)  chief veterinarian 
_Jacquie  Jencek_ (http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Jacquie_Jencek.html) . 
The female was not brought to the zoo to mate with Tony, which is  
vasectomized, but she “put a spark back in his life,” Jencek said. 
The zoo’s four lions and three Sumatran tigers are also being kept in cages  
in the Lion House until construction work is finished on the outside 
enclosure,  Jencek said. Construction work to prevent further cat escapes is expected 
to  finish in February, according to a zoo spokeswoman. 
“Everyone’s locked in, but Tony doesn’t have his partner all of a sudden,”  
Jencek said. “His world has changed.” 
Tony and the zoo’s other big cats have played with toys, bathed in tubs and  
searched for bones hidden in cages since they became indoor-cats, according to 
 Jencek. The Examiner was not allowed to inspect their conditions. 
Cramped conditions can lead to stress, which can cause tigers to pace and  
lose their appetites, said Pat Derby, who cares for 38 tigers at a sanctuary  
near _Sacramento_ (http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Sacramento.html) .  
“I hate to say this,” she said, “but lions and tigers in circuses live in  
little boxes all of their lives.” 
The zoo will try to secure a new partner for Tony through the _Association  
of Zoos and Aquariums_ 
(http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Association_of_Zoos_and_Aquariums.html) , said zoo spokeswoman _Lora LaMarca_ 
(http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Lora_LaMarca.html) . 
_San Francisco_ (http://www.examiner.com/Subject-San_Francisco.html) ’s  
chances of securing another critically endangered Siberian tiger will not be  
harmed because of the recent tiger escape or because Tony is sterile, according  
to Feldman.  
“It’s important,” he said, “that the animals have some companionship.”  
_http://www.examiner.com/a-1156312~Zoo_wants_mate_for_surviving_tiger.html?cid
=rss-San_Francisco_ 
(http://www.examiner.com/a-1156312~Zoo_wants_mate_for_surviving_tiger.html?cid=rss-San_Francisco) 





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