A fight between three rare Siberian tigers at Longleat Safari Park left one of them dead.

The big cat known as Shouri entered the paddock where her fellow creatures were being held and the other two attacked her, a spokesman said.

Red and Yana were not injured. The couple are a breeding pair and are usually kept separate from older female tigers.

Staff were moving the tigers between various paddocks at the time and a door into the area had been left open.

“A full investigation is ongoing to determine the exact circumstances surrounding this terribly sad event,” a Longleat spokesperson said. ”Shouri, aged 13, arrived at the park in 2006 and everyone had become very attached to her over the years.”

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They added: ”The dedicated team of keepers who care for our big cats are, understandably, extremely distraught by the events and we are doing everything we can to help and support them. Although Shouri was not part of a breeding programme, she was still an incredibly important ambassador for her species and part of the global mission to raise awareness for this amazing animal.

“Her loss is very hard to take and she will be missed by all the staff here as well as our visitors.”

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Longleat Safari Park was not open to members of the public at the time of the fight, the spokesperson added.