Auckland Zoo shared devastating news about the death of a four-week-old Sumatran tiger cub on Tuesday.
The zoo euthanised the cub "due to a head injury sustained after a tumble while exploring his habitat on Saturday afternoon", it announced on Instagram.
It's the latest tragedy for the mother of the cub Zayana, who killed her own cub after its twin was stillborn in September 2023.
Auckland Zoo director Kevin Buley said the recent death of another cub is "hugely upsetting for everyone connected with the zoo, but nobody is more devastated today than our team of carnivore keepers who have been doing an incredible job supporting Zayana throughout her entire breeding journey".
The zoo emphasised that the veterinary team had done "absolutely everything that they could have done over the last 72 hours, to give the little cub the best possible chance of recovery after his accident".
They temporarily moved the cub away from Zayana and into the vet hospital and consulted a specialist veterinary neurologist.
"Typically, with a mild concussion a marked improvement would be expected within a 72-hour period. However, with a noticeable deterioration in his condition, the team had to make the tough but correct call this morning, to euthanise him," the zoo said.
Zayana continues to look after the remaining female cub and the zoo hopes this will continue going forward.
While members of the public were concerned after Zayana killed her own cub in 2023, Lauren Booth from the zoo's carnivore team said Zayana may have killed her cub because having only one offspring creates "an even tougher higher-stakes situation" for the mother.
"It's not unusual for a tiger mother to kill the remaining cub, which is what has happened here."
Estimates say fewer than 600 Sumatran tigers remain in the wild, found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Zayana had been kept at Topeza Zoo and Conservation Centre in Kansas, USA, before arriving in Tāmaki Makaurau in November 2022.
The tiger enclosure remains closed to visitors while the zoo monitors Zayana and the remaining cub.
