Tiger Dies During Insemination Process Performed To Save Species

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — The death of an Amur tiger at a Colorado zoo last week could have significant impact on the future of the species as a whole. Savelii, a 9-year-old female at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, died March 4 due to complications from an artificial insemination procedure aimed at helping save the endangered species, a statement from the zoo president confirmed.

Bob Chastain, president and CEO of the zoo, said artificial insemination was the "safest way to safeguard this amazing species of Amur tiger from extinction" in a letter confirming Savelii's death. It was part of an important reproductive effort to prevent the species from becoming extinct, Fox 21 News and others have reported.

"Numbers in the wild continue to be treacherously low at around 500," Chastain said in the letter shared by the Colorado Springs television station. "The numbers in human care, at zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in the U.S. and Canada, hover near just 100 individuals."

The artificial insemination procedure that killed the Amur tiger was so important, Chastain said, that seven veterinarians were on hand, along with reproductive biologists and representatives from three AZA-accredited zoos and one university.

"It was an important step forward for a species near the brink of extinction," he wrote. "Much hope hinged on the outcome of this procedure."

"The loss of individual animals, especially one as spunky and playful as Savelii, is deeply sad. Savelii will be missed immensely. But our sadness is not only for the loss of a beautiful individual, but also sadness for the loss suffered for the Amur tiger species as a whole."

In memory of Savelii, Chastain said the zoo will match each dollar raised up to $34,000 to help fund tiger conservation.