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Human Role Not Ruled Out in Tiger Attack
MyWay/Drudge ^ | 12-26-2007 | robertson

Posted on 12/27/2007 10:18:04 AM PST by wardaddy

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The big cat exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo was cordoned off as a crime scene Wednesday as investigators tried to determine whether a Siberian tiger that killed a visitor escaped from its high-walled pen on its own or got help from someone, inadvertent or otherwise.

Police shot the 300-pound animal to death after a Christmas Day rampage that began when the tiger escaped from an enclosure surrounded by what zoo officials said are an 18-foot wall and a 20-foot moat. Two brothers who also were visiting the zoo were severely mauled.

Police Chief Heather Fong said the department has opened a criminal investigation to "determine if there was human involvement in the tiger getting out or if the tiger was able to get out on its own."

Police said they have not ruled anything out, including whether the escape was the result of carelessness or a deliberate act.

(AP) Tatiana, a female Siberian tiger that killed one person and injured two others, is seen in the lion... Full Image

Fong said officers were gathering evidence from the tiger's enclosure as well as accounts from witnesses and others.

One zoo official insisted the tiger did not get out through an open door and must have climbed or leaped out. But Jack Hanna, former director of the Columbus Zoo and a frequent guest on TV, said such a leap would be an unbelievable feat, and "virtually impossible."

"There's something going on here. It just doesn't feel right to me," he said. "It just doesn't add up to me."

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: humancompassion; maul; sf; tiger; zoo
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To: wardaddy
I don't have a problem with protecting humans from predators that encroach on human settlements. That's not the case here. If the young men were taunting the tiger and invading its habitat, I have zero sympathy for them. That's part of my conservative upbringing. Actions have consequences and often there is a very steep price to be paid. I make no excuses for people who make reckless decisions that not only endanger their lives but potentially the lives of others as well.

IF they taunted the tiger (and that hasn't been conclusively proven yet) then they earned what happened to them.

361 posted on 12/27/2007 8:29:07 PM PST by jess35
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To: wardaddy
if these cats were loose they might have killed the occasional nun or salvation army bill jingler too....

You are Right about that, and the Cat had to be Killed, but it's just Such a Tragedy All the Way Around.

362 posted on 12/27/2007 8:34:38 PM PST by Kitty Mittens (To God Be All Excellent Praise!!)
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To: Elsie

As the tiger approached...one dude was heard saying “Don’t eat me bro”.


363 posted on 12/27/2007 8:46:28 PM PST by pepsionice
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To: dynoman

Yeah.

I’ve done some dumb things but taunting tigers... not on my “dumb list” .


364 posted on 12/27/2007 8:53:35 PM PST by biscuit jane
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To: savedbygrace

“Do the guys deserve punishment for taunting a caged cat? Yes.

Do they deserve death? Decidedly not.”

The problem is the consequences of the choice to “taunt a caged cat” were not theirs to choose.

That’s why it’s a smart thing to think about the consequences *before* you make a choice.


365 posted on 12/27/2007 8:59:13 PM PST by dynoman (Objectivity is the essence of intelligence. - Marylin vos Savant)
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To: TigersEye
indeed but many here seriously thought he should get life or capital punishment for dog fighting

some even went for drawing and quartering

and the select few went “medieval on his ass”..lol

366 posted on 12/27/2007 9:26:44 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

said genetic debris of course does not include you or your spawn naturally


367 posted on 12/27/2007 9:30:09 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: antivenom

dang....that is very good.......i’m humbled Mr Wilde


368 posted on 12/27/2007 9:31:12 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: Joe 6-pack

I wouldn’t quite equivocate Jeffrey Dahmer with run of the mill tiger teasers myself.

I think this thread is a convergence of Mike Vick/Animals rule threads and what some here call Darwin cleans the gene pool threads

and they speak loudly how some FReepers are what they are.....animal worshippers meet the cool to death crowd ...and some are better suited for Prayer threads

and some like me.....in between


369 posted on 12/27/2007 9:35:09 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: Joe 6-pack
Likewise, from a biblical perspective, humans are responsible to the beasts merely out of respect for God's creation

the only beast I've ever been responsible to was my ex-wife

I'm not aware of anywhere in the Bible it says I'm responsible to the beasts.....the Bible mainly starts on about how they are food after Noah when before Man was not a meat eater.....later on about how an Ox gores ya the you kill it and don't eat it....even if God forbid...someone teased it...and while we are on Jesus....I would wager Jesus would offer more empathy to dead kids and their families than a dead tigers....just a hunch....you brought it up

we live in an age where many place much much more value on neat animals like tigers and elephants and whales than on babies....i think that's screwy and this thread sorta dances around that Gaia style theme.....pretty weird for a conservative forum.....

it's threads like this that give me pause about the average maturity around here.....but than I can go to a prayer thread and see how wonderful conservatives can be

370 posted on 12/27/2007 9:46:50 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: Squantos

It will be interesting to see how the cat got out.


371 posted on 12/27/2007 9:48:04 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: Americanchild
The one that bit me was a real rat.

The very low incidence of rodent transmission of rabies in the US does not mean they do not contract it.

Agencies which test for rabies often refuse to test squirrels and other small rodents.

First of all, rodents who are exposed to the disease are usually killed by whatever predator would give it to them. When they are infected and still survive whatever attacks them, they die of the disease much more rapidly than other animals infected. Bats, for instance, live quite a while after infection which makes them more of a transmission problem. There are other mysteries to the why small rodents rarely transmit, I wonder if it's their relatively short life cycle in general--but assuming they are immune is not a deduction to make. Groundhogs for some reason, transmit a lot of rabies.

The animals that commonly transmit rabies all have different cycles of infection, transmission and death.

An exotic imported for pet fanciers would be a complete wild card.

372 posted on 12/27/2007 9:48:38 PM PST by Mamzelle
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To: mamelukesabre

You are officially the 7th reasonable post I’ve seen here.

Thank You...according to some here tigers just know...when they aren’t busy practicing brain surgery or reading Hegel.


373 posted on 12/27/2007 9:49:31 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: biscuit jane

lol....and that Newsom guy....and Pelosi and Boxer


374 posted on 12/27/2007 9:50:25 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: Palladin

I wish.....naive adventurer in a confederacy of dunces


375 posted on 12/27/2007 9:51:14 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: Palladin
I wish.....naive adventurer in a confederacy of dunces stoned dunces
376 posted on 12/27/2007 9:52:14 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: dynoman

that is true


377 posted on 12/27/2007 9:52:45 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: jess35
IF they taunted the tiger (and that hasn't been conclusively proven yet) then they earned what happened to them.

so in Jess's world folks tease animals then death is appropriate...man....rough neighborhood eh Jess?

378 posted on 12/27/2007 9:54:34 PM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: wardaddy
I agree with you that our insane worship of animals as gods is totally wrong....its Paganism, pure and simple.....people are adorning their cats and dogs with jewelry, expensive clothing items, special beds and dog houses,cosmetic surgery even.....

but I do think God meant for us to be good stewards of HIS gifts, one of them being the animals that inhabit earth with us....

379 posted on 12/27/2007 9:59:05 PM PST by cherry
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To: atomic conspiracy
According to the article, the enclosure was built in 1940, which might well explain the inadequate idiot-proofing.

Designer 1: “Say, don’t you think it should be a little higher in case someone gets in there and dangles his leg over the side to provoke the cat.”

Designer 2: “Are you crazy? Nobody’s that stupid!”

My thoughts exactly! This would not have happened in the '40s or '50s.

380 posted on 12/27/2007 10:05:57 PM PST by Inyo-Mono (If you don't want people to get your goat, don't tell them where it's tied.)
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