A three-week-old Sumatran tiger cub has been found drowned in London Zoo.
On Saturday morning keepers in the Tiger Territory, which was only opened by Prince Philip in March, noticed that the cub could not be seen on the den cameras and raised the alarm.
The cub's lifeless body was found lying on the edge of the enclosure's pool. A postmortem revealed that it had drowned.
The cub was the first tiger cub to be born at London Zoo since 1996, to proud parents Jae Jae and Melati.
First tiger cub to be born at London Zoo in 17 years has died after drowning in new enclosure pool
Postmortem confirms three-week-old cub drowned
Keepers discovered the tiny tiger lying by the edge of enclosure's pool
Staff said to be 'devastated' at the loss
By Lizzie Parry
15 October 2013
Daily Mail
Daily Mail
London Zoo's newborn tiger cub has died in a drowning, it has emerged.
The three-week-old cub, who had not been named or sexed because it was so young, was the first tiger to be born at the Zoo in 17 years.
On Saturday morning keepers in the Tiger Territory noticed the cub could not be seen on the den cameras. The alarm was raised and the cub's lifeless body was discovered lying on the edge of the enclosure's pool.
London Zoo's newborn tiger cub has died. A postmortem revealed the new arrival drowned
Keepers working in the Tiger Territory raised the alarm after noticing the cub had disappeared from the view of the enclosure's hidden cameras
A postmortem, carried out on Sunday, revealed the cub had drowned.
A ZSL London Zoo spokeswoman said a review of the circumstances is underway but at this stage it is thought that mother Melati carried her cub outside.
But how the cub ended up in the pool remains a mystery to the team, because there are no cameras monitoring the outside enclosure. The spokeswoman said it was not thought that Melati would take her cub outside so early.
Curator Malcolm Fitzpatrick said: 'We're heartbroken by what's happened. To go from the excitement of the birth to this in three weeks is just devastating.
Staff at the Zoo are said to be 'devastated' at the news. Curator Malcolm Fitzpatrick said: 'We're heartbroken by what's happened'
'Melati can be a very nervous animal and we didn't want to risk putting her on edge by changing her surroundings or routines, in case she abandoned or attacked the cub.
'At the time we thought it was in the best interests of Melati and her cub to allow her continued access to the full enclosure as normal.
'We would do anything to turn back the clock, and nobody could be more upset about what's happened than the keepers who work with the tigers every day.
'They are devoted to those tigers and are distraught.'
Five-year-old Sumatran tiger, Melati, gave birth to her first cub on September 22 after a six-minute birth.
The enclosure's hidden cameras captured the momentous arrival - the first birth of a tiger at the zoo in 17 years.
Parents, Sumatran tigers Jae Jae and Melati, were the first to produce a tiger cub at the Zoo for 17 years
The pregnancy, which lasted around 105 days, was kept secret by zookeepers who kept a careful eye on the first-time mother using hidden cameras to avoid disturbing her.
The cub is the grandchild of the zoo's last tiger cub, Hari, the father of Melati.
The cub's father is five-year-old Jae Jae, who played no part in taking care of the new arrival.
Jae Jae and Melati are considered to be Europe's most genetically important pair of Sumatran tigers and were matched by the global breeding programme for the critically endangered species.
The zoo's £3.6million Tiger Territory was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in March this year.
The 27,000sqft enclosure is the zoo's biggest investment since the opening of Gorilla Kingdom in 2007.
It was designed by ZSL's tiger keepers and conservationists to be the ultimate big-cat habitat.
Five times the size of the previous exhibit it features towering trees and a custom-built swimming pool.
