Siberian tiger Shelley at Sofia Zoo died at 19

Siberian tiger Shelley died at the age of 19, the Sofia Zoo said on March 22.

Shelley was born in the Czech Republic and arrived in Bulgaria when she was only 9 months old.

A strong emotional bond quickly developed between the tiger cub and her keepers, who were responsible for her feeding and daily care. With her kind and playful disposition, intelligence and beauty, Shelley quickly became everyone’s favourite of both the zoo staff and visitors. As a Siberian tiger, bad or cold weather did not scare her, quite the opposite. She could be observed by visitors in her extensive outdoor enclosure in both rain and snow, the zoo said in its release.

Shelley was an ambassador for her species at the zoo. Her wild fellows are threatened with extinction. Over the past 100 years, the wild tiger population has declined by about 90%. The main reason for this is poaching, the zoo further said.

Photos: Yuliyan Popov, Katerina Zareva - Simeonova, Natalie Haralampieva