Tatiana[4]: Stupid primate tricks

[mdlbear]

The 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.

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Yaknow, a Siberian tiger is an endangered species; I bet contributing to its death is a felony. California has a felony murder statute. Those guys *could* end up in San Quentin for quite a stretch...

And if they do, IMNASHO, they had it coming.

[mdlbear]

Depending on what they were doing at the edge of the moat, there could have been one or more felonies involved before that.

I also...

[jload.livejournal.com]

think they had it coming. It has dumb teenagers written all over it and sounds like another case of nature weeding out the stupid. I just wish Tatiana had not had to pay the ultimate price!

Re: I also...

[mdlbear]

Agreed -- she was such a beautiful creature!

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

The term "evolution in action" springs to mind. Sigh.

The local news radio down here was querying visitors to the Los Angeles Zoo. Right in front of the kids. Ack.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Yeah, she was just being a tiger. I do feel sorry for her, and I'm horrified at whoever went fooling with the tigers such that she got out, but I do not disagree with the police decision to shoot her. By that stage of the situation it was necessary; protecting human life comes first. I only regret that things ever got to a point where that was the choice that had to be made.

[mdlbear]

Yeah; one or two of the news articles mentioned that the zoo has a response team with shoot-to-kill orders: tranquilizer darts are too slow and less accurate. But the police disarmed the zoo team when they took over the site -- last thing you need in that situation is a crossfire.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Indeed. It sounds like everything that was done *after* Tatiana got out of her cage and started pouncing the primates was handled well, it's just a question of what idiot let her out in the first pace and how.

Poor cat.

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

>> But the police disarmed the zoo team when they took over the site -- last thing you need in that situation is a crossfire.

How . . . incompetent. Let's disarm the animal control experts with the high powered rifles in favor of the patrol officers with .40 handguns who may never have SEEN a tiger.

Most zoo response teams are trained in conjunction with city SWAT teams and are prepared to work hand-in-paw with either police or SWAT as necessary.

On the other hand, given the almost total lack of security at the zoo, perhaps I can see their point. Given that the zoo lacked such basics as cameras, lighting, a PA system, and an emergency plan / evacuation plan, I have to wonder what else was lacking.

Good thing this wasn't terrorism, eh?

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

Sources said pinecones and sticks [...] 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.

There's nothing saying that the Three Stooges were the ones throwing sticks/pinecones. Those items could have been thrown/dropped/what-have-you by other zoo-goers. But aside from that, I agree. Evolution in action, and Tatiana paid the price for being herself.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but also a shoe and blood in the moat -- was any of the victims missing a shoe, and wearing one that matched that one? -- a footprint on a metal fence, and apparently blood near a trail between the exhibit and the cafe. (Quoting the sources from the previous post)

[roaringmouse.livejournal.com]

If the "victims" were taunting that beautiful cat, I have no sympathy. Any animal, furry or human will get mad enough to attack the taunter or teaser. Mother Nature is a Bitch.. Besides, yes, the zoo must protect the humans from the animals; however, the zoo also has protect the animals from the humans. People don't read signs especially those that "Do Not Feed the..." If you go to Yosemite, you see lots of stupid people leaving food out for the raccoons and the bears..
I am getting SO TIRED of hearing about the safety of humans... what about the poor beasties...

About that wall...

[hvideo.livejournal.com]

Such a tragic situation - on both sides.

What has struck me hardest, however, is not the possible taunting. It's not even the people denying that they said what the paper had quoted them as saying the day before, or discrepancies about whether the zoo response team had tranquilizer guns as well as rifles. There is often a lot of panic and confusion in these situations.

But there should have been no panic or confusion when the wall was being built. The park records and park spokesmen supposedly have both claimed the wall was 20' high, which is 4' higher than the minimum recommended. But when they actually MEASURED the wall it was only 12.5' high. Significantly LOWER than the recommended 16'.

If you think of the body of a house cat as less than 2' long (nose to rump)and ask yourself if there is any problem with it jumping up 4' (more than twice it's length), the answer is "No problem - cats can do that easily." So if you have a tiger roughly 6' long in the body, to think of it jumping up twice it's height (12.5') is not that much of a stretch.

Quality control (hardware) is my field. Part of that is seeing if a detail drawing matches the engineering specifications. Another part is seeing if the hardware is built to match the drawing. I don't know for sure where they fell down, but since they have repeated said that the plans for the enclosure met or exceeded the recommended zoo standards I'm guessing that the drawings probably DO call for a higher wall. Those who actually BUILT the wall short and those who actually INSPECTED it are at the top of my list of suspects right now. Deliberately skimping on safety equipment that leads to a death may make them criminally negligent for manslaughter - or maybe even qualify for "depraved indifference" for a higher charge. They would also be responsible for the death of Tatiana.