One of the Assiniboine Park Zoo's Amur tigers is dead following an incident between the animals in an enclosure there Thursday morning.

Zoo officials say a door that separates tigers in two enclosures was not properly locked, allowing Baikal, the elder of three Amur tigers, to enter into another enclosure where two younger tigers were housed. The gate in the "transfer corridor" was closed but not locked, leading to a confrontation between Baikal and two-year-old Vasili that left Baikal dead.

Chris Enright, the zoo's head veterinarian, said Vasili and his brother Samkha, who came to the zoo in January, were housed together, away from Baikal.

"None of the tigers has a history of being violent with one another ... but any tiger -- they're a 350-lb. predator -- has the potential to act aggressively in defence of itself," Enright said, adding the younger tigers likely felt threatened. "They would see it as their territory."

Assiniboine Park Conservancy president Margaret Redmond said no one in the public was ever in danger, but a touring group of high school students were present when the incident took place.

"I have spoken with those students and teacher and we were able to get them away before they witnessed anything too unfortunate," Redmond said.

Enright said the loss of an animal in the zoo has an emotional effect on staff who work alongside them for weeks, months and years.

"It's very tragic for the staff and the volunteers who come to get to know and be engaged by the animals at the zoo," Enright said. "Having any animal die is always tough on staff who could end up spending their entire career working with the animal.

"It's certainly a grieving process. There are feelings there much the same as some people go through when people die."

Redmond said an internal review will take place and updates will be provided.

Baikal was on loan from a Toronto zoo and arrived in Winnipeg in 2009 from Cherry Brook Zoo in Saint John, N.B. for the purpose of mating.

Vasili and Samkha came to Winnipeg from the Calgary Zoo.

A video of Baikal

Via Lorne Sunley

A video of Vasili

Via Lorne Sunley