Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:that's a 660lb one,they are big kitties
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 ...
Meant to say: Humans never wrong; animals always wrong )Majority Freeper think) but the <’s made the latter part disappear
Abusing animals is just plain wrong. This abuse (if it happened) was quite deliberate. The big cat, on the other hand, was doing what was natural for big, wild cats. Abusing this particular animal had consequences, and if he taunted Tatiana, one kid paid the ultimate stupidity tax for it—the other two paid dearly as well.
I view this as tragic for all, and not unlike playing chicken with a freight train. It could have been avoided.
Fawn, get a grip! A loose tiger was standing over and mauling a person who was still alive. I sympathize with the argument that it’s a tragic loss to have to kill the tiger, but cops have a responsibility - a duty - to act in such a circumstance.
That’s the most cogent theory I’ve heard so far. Coupled with the gang-related posts that follow, I’d say we may be very close to getting at the truth. Of course, if it was Hispanci gang-related, it’s a truth we will likely never be told.
Imagine if this were a movie at the movie theater. In the movie three hoodlums spend a few minutes throwing rocks and sticks at the tiger. The tiger finds a way to kill one and maul the other two. Do you reckon the moviewatchers would cheer the tiger? I think a majority would. Hoodlum behavior doesn't get much sympathy even in nonconservative groups.
In the bible there is the story of one of God's servants trying to do God's work and a group of hecklers makes fun of his male pattern baldness. A bear comes out of the brush and mauls several of them to death. Which is worse, throwing sticks at a tiger or calling someone "baldy"?
Had that tiger just killed/mauled anyone?
Re: Somehow if the kids taunted to tiger then it’s ok they died or they deserved it.
Exactly!
Re: Nothing personal but you folks have your priorites screwed up.
I’m sorry, but we have an obligation to protect endangered species. It is incumbent upon us if indeed we are the most intelligent (some days I doubt this). When we cannot and tragedies like this happen, I feel sorry for the animal but not for the idiots who started the chain of events. Not an ounce.
Re: Placing animals even cute majestic predatory ones like Tigers above man is nutty....
I think it’s nutty to believe man automatically has a higher right to live than people who are not able to show human characteristics, such as compassion.
At this point I feel sorry for the tiger.
My question is were there witnesses and have they made statements? Tigers and other big cats are basicly nocturnal hunters ... bad timiming on the taunters!
The tiger or the police chief? Also, why do police chiefs wear 4 stars on their collar, they think they are Patton or something?
Well said.
Four cops, four .40 sidearms. Probably got 20 rounds into it in less than 2 seconds once they decided to.
My thought too. We've seen the "Jacka**" and "Wild Boys" crews do similar "stunts" like dangling over alligators or taunting lions in a zebra suit. I wonder if these guys were attempting to something similar and got on the wrong side of a very big and very angry cat.
‘At this point I feel sorry for the tiger.’
Hell, I felt sorry for the Tiger BEFORE this.
Nothing quite as depressing as watching a magnificent animal like that in a cage.
I can’t go to the Zoo because of that feeling.
It certainly seems to be well-established that the tiger was mauling one of its victims. Should the cops have allowed it to finish its job and kill the human?
Yes, they should be given large spaces to roam. I too cannot go to zoos nor to circuses. But I understand zoos are an unfortunate necessity in order to preserve these great animals.
Human ignorance would wipe them out.
Don't be so sure that there were only three nitwits involved here. It could have been the gang's day at the zoo. The only ones who got left behind were the ones who were not in any condition to run away with the rest of the pack.
I think there were more than just these three. Maybe one of them has the camera and will post the video. Then we'll really know.
Given how the natural populations of tigers and other large cats are under pressure from man, it may be that captive animals will be the only way to preserve the species. Not ideal, but the alternative is extinction.
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