Yet another mark against matchmaking and/or dating in general: a male tiger at London Zoo attacked and killed a female tiger on their very first date.
According to the New York Times, the zoo’s tiger keepers yearned to matchmake longtime female Sumatran tiger resident Melati with Asim, a male Sumatran tiger newly transplanted to the zoo from Denmark. Head tiger keeper Kathryn Sanders called Asim “a handsome, confident cat who is known for being very affectionate with the ladies in his life.”
“We’re hoping he’ll be the perfect mate for our beautiful Melati,” she said, per a January press release from the zoo.
But as evidenced by hundreds of Lifetime Original Movies, perfect mates are almost always secret murderers, and Asim was no exception. Though keepers first kept Melati and Asim’s romance at a slow burn, putting them in separate but close quarters, on Friday they decided it was time for the two to take their relationship to the next level.
That did not go well, per the Times:
The animals “were initially cautious,” but then the introduction “quickly escalated into a more aggressive interaction.”
Asim mauled Melati to death.
Apparently, the keepers attempted to intervene, but were too late. “Everyone at ZSL London Zoo is devastated by the loss of Melati, and we are heartbroken by this turn of events,” the zoo said in a statement over the weekend.
RIP to Melati, and remember, kids: Love is pain.