Tatiana[4]: Stupid primate tricks
2007-12-27 08:25 amThe San Francisco Chronicle, as one might expect, has the most detailed write-up:
San Francisco police are investigating the possibility that one of the victims in the fatal tiger mauling on Christmas Day climbed over a waist-high fence and then dangled a leg or other body part over the edge of a moat that kept the big cat away from the public, sources close to the investigation said Wednesday.
The minimal evidence found at the scene included a shoe and blood in an area between the gate and the edge of the 25- to 30-foot-wide moat, raising questions about what role, if any, the victims might have had in accidentally helping the animal escape.
The three victims, all young men from San Jose, were visiting the zoo together. They were all present just outside the tiger's grotto when the tiger escaped, killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. with a savage slash to the throat, and injured the other two. The names of the survivors, who are brothers ages 19 and 23, have not been released.
The injured victims fled, leaving a trail of blood, which police believe the tiger followed for 300 yards up a zoo pathway. As the tiger cornered and attacked one of the brothers, four police officers arrived, distracted the animal and shot it dead.
[...]
Zoo director Manuel Mollinedo said it was also likely that the animal was provoked.
"Somebody created a situation that really agitated her and gave her some sort of a method to break out," Mollinedo said. "There is no possible way the cat could have made it out of there in a single leap. I would surmise that there was help.
"A couple of feet dangling over the edge could possibly have done it."
Sources said pinecones and sticks that were found in the moat might have been thrown at the animal. Those items could not have landed in the grotto naturally, they said.
However, police Sgt. Neville Gittens maintained that there was no reason to think that the victims were taunting the tiger.
One wonders what Sgt. Gittens has been smoking. For that matter, one wonders what the kids had been smoking. I probably ought to stop calling them "victims" now -- as far as I can tell the only innocent victim in this story is Tatania.
Additional articles in the Chron are here, [editorial] here, here [Outrage at City Hall], and here. The opening quote in the latter article just about sums it up:
"She was everything that a tiger is supposed to be," said big-cat expert Ronald Tilson. "She was essentially shot and killed for being a tiger."
It also recounts an alleged incident in 1997 where the tiger leaped across the moat and got a paw onto the dirt on the other side before slipping off. Not verified, at this point, but a leg over the side could have been all the help she needed.
More news: LA Times, BBC, Times Online, Seattle Times, Star-Telegram [has map], NY Times [points out that New Yorkers are in much more danger from neighbors with exotic pets]:
While tigers kept in zoos are typically well secured, there are other settings in which the animals have been a menace, or worse. In October 2003, Roy Horn of the magic and tiger-training team of Siegfried and Roy was mauled by a 400-pound white tiger during a show in Las Vegas. Mr. Horn had worked with the tiger for years, but is still undergoing rehabilitation and walks with a cane.
Just a day after the attack on Mr. Horn, New Yorkers had their own walk on the wild side when a 400-pound Bengal tiger and a five-foot-long caiman were discovered in an apartment in Harlem.
The police were alerted after the owner of the apartment, Antoine Yates, called to say he had been bitten by a pit bull. When they arrived, officers talked to neighbors who complained about large amounts of urine and a strong smell coming from the apartment.
To subdue the tiger, a police sniper rappelled down the side of the building and, as the tiger roared in the background, fired tranquilizer darts through an open fifth-floor window.
Keeping tigers in such confined spaces might be rare, and even cruel, but plenty of Americans feel comfortable keeping these animals in their backyards. Several years ago, there were more tigers in private hands in Texas than in all the nation's accredited zoos, according to Palmer Krantz III, the chairman of the board at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Stupid primates, indeed.