Felines Compete For The Eye Of The Tiger

Three’s company. Or a love triangle.

Animal curators are enjoying the drama unfolding at the El Paso Zoo as two female Malayan tigers vie for the attention of a 6-year-old feline bachelor named Wzui.

Wzui and 3-year-old Seri, a female, arrived at the zoo earlier this year at the recommendation of the Malayan Tiger Species Survival Plan, a program that allows accredited zoos to help breed endangered species.

The young couple moved in with 15-year-old Meli, the zoo’s longtime female resident tiger.

Wzui appears to like them both, say zoo officials, but the females seemed jealous of each other.

“Females normally don’t get along that well to begin with,” said Griselda Martinez, the zoo’s collection supervisor, “but then when Wzui came into the picture, it was a little tougher because now we had three tigers in there.”

Zookeepers are rooting for Seri.

Martinez says that Wzui “is very down to earth and loving and Seri is more like a kitten and sometimes she likes to play too much.”

Malayan tigers in captivity have a high survival rate due to the lack of predators, say zoo officials, but they are endangered across Asia where their total population size is estimated to be less than 2,500.