A "terrible mistake" led to a female jaguar being mauled to death by a male one at a Florida zoo, according to officials.
The 21-year-old female jaguar, Zenta, was killed during a brief encounter with a 12-year-old male jaguar, Harry, at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
On Saturday, Harry was brought into the same holding complex to be examined after he ate “pieces of an enrichment item,” said zoo officials.
When the two cats became aggressive towards each other, zoo officials tried to separate them but were unsuccessful.
By the time the animal health team arrived to immobilize Harry, Zenta had already died.
Dan Maloney, who is the deputy zoo director, said “Zenta’s death is the result of a terrible mistake, and we are reviewing all aspects of this awful occurrence,”
The zoo is now investigating this fatal incident.
“Our focus now is to complete the investigation and identify corrective measures to mitigate this type of incident in the future,” Maloney continued.
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