SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — Baha, a 15-year-old female Sumatran Tiger, died on Wednesday morning due to trauma received from a male tiger. The Zoo’s male tiger, Mohan, became aggressive with Baha during a physical introduction on the morning of February 10. Staff, who had been monitoring the introduction from the outside of the enclosure, quickly sprang into action to separate the two tigers. As soon as staff were able to get the male tiger into a secure location veterinarians rushed to care for Baha, but unfortunately she had already passed, veterinary staff tried to resuscitate her but were unsuccessful. Baha has been at the Sacramento Zoo since 2002 and has five living offspring from three previous successful breeding introductions that are at other Association of Zoo and Aquarium (AZA) accredited zoos.
“We are truly devastated at the passing of Baha” said Matt McKim, Animal Collection Director. “Not only was she a wonderful ambassador and a truly attentive mother, she was also a one-of-a-kind tiger that inspired many.”
The tiger introduction was planned through the Species Survival Plan® (SSP), an AZA program that cooperatively manages specific populations with the goal of sustaining healthy, genetically diverse, and demographically varied species well into the future. Since the arrival of the male tiger in December 2015, staff had been monitoring his and Baha’s behavior daily as they had visual contact with each other. Both tigers’ behavior indicated that this was the proper time for physical introductions. Based on knowledge and experience from past successful introductions, staff decided to physically introduce the tigers on Wednesday morning. The Sacramento Zoo has successfully housed and introduced tigers since the 1960’s, including Baha and her previous mate, Castro.
In the past century, four of nine tiger subspecies have gone extinct in their natural habitats.
