Veterinarian Puzzled by Tiger Cub’s Death in Plane

The death of a rare tiger cub during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Los Angeles has left a veterinarian at the Melaka Zoo where it lived “puzzled, saddened and very, very sorry,” he said.

Dr. Zainal Zainuddin said the shipping crate that U.S. officials believe may have been too confining and suffocating for the 10-month-old cub had been used successfully before without incident.

“I cannot comment who is to blame, but the crate has been used previously without problem and the cub was perfectly healthy,” Zainuddin said.

When the Malaysian Airlines 747 carrying the cub and its sister arrived in Los Angeles last month after a 24-hour trip, the cub was dead, either from dehydration or because it had apparently overheated in its small wooden cage, said Dr. Ron DeHaven, animal care supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The surviving cub apparently occupied a larger cage.

The two tigers were on loan from the Malaysian Wildlife Authority to the San Diego Zoo, where they were to be used in a breeding program. Only about 200 such corbetti tigers are thought to exist in the world.

Zainuddin speculated that ventilation holes on the end of the crate might have been blocked when the crate was placed in the cargo hold. He also insisted that the crate was large enough for the cub.

“When we packed it, the animal could easily turn around in the crate and stand,” he said. “Perhaps rigor mortis set in, making the animal seem longer than it was.”

He said he could not explain the presence of plastic that was found wrapped halfway up the crate. “I’m really puzzled by that,” he said.

Zainuddin said this was the first time an animal from his zoo had died in transit and he said he was awaiting the results of the necropsy.