Calif. zoo tiger killed by exhibit mate

(06-26) 06:45 PDT Atascadero, Calif. (AP) —

A zoo tiger was killed by his longtime exhibit mate.

Hoshi, an Indochinese tiger who joined the Charles Paddock Zoo in fall 2000, was found dead in his den Sunday.

Zoo director Alan Baker said the tiger died from asphyxiation caused by exhibit mate Sala. Laboratory tests are incomplete and details about the death weren’t known.

Hoshi was born in February 2000 at the Cincinnati Zoo and joined the Atascadero zoo later that year, Baker said.

Sala will stay on display at the zoo, which was established in 1955 by San Luis Obispo County park ranger Charles Paddock, who nursed wild animals back to health.

The zoo was moved from the county animal shelter in 1963 to its current five-acre site. The city took over management of the zoo when Atascadero incorporated in 1979.

The Charles Paddock Zoo has more than 100 animals.

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