A 4-month old male Amur tiger cub injured last month at Brookfield Zoo has died, according to a press release issued by the zoo on Sunday. No cause of death was identified, but the cub and its female sibling were both injured in an incident on Sept. 27. As a result of his injuries, the male cub had a foreleg amputated. The female cub continues to recover in the zoo’s animal hospital, where “veterinarians are cautiously optimistic about her condition,” according to the release.
According to the release, the male cub was initially injured when he reached his paw through a small opening in a door separating him from an adult male tiger. The adult male, Robeki, who is the father of both cubs, damaged the male cubs foreleg. Both the male and female cubs were further injured, zoo staff believe, when their mother, Tiara, attempted to get the cubs away from door. Both cubs’ tails were injured during the incident, and animals underwent surgery as a result of their injuries.
Following an internal investigation by the Chicago Zoological Society, which operates Brookfield Zoo, and a report from a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigator, the society “concluded that a questionable staff evaluation had been made of the cubs’ ability to interact with the adult male,” according to the release. “A very small gap in the door separating the adult and cubs was overlooked, which may have led to this incident. The USDA inspection cited the zoo for an inadequate separation of the tigers.”
Amy Walgren, senior vice president of marketing for Brookfield Zoo, said Monday that three zoo supervisors “are no longer in that area,” when asked if anyone had been fired in the wake of the incident. Asked what that meant, Walgren declined to comment citing personnel confidentiality concerns.