“Circuses take much better care of their animals.”
Maybe some zoos, like the Oakland zoo, but I’ve spent a lot of time at the SF Zoo, and beein on the behind the scenes tours and seen how they take care of the animals there, and I have a really hard time saying that about the SFZoo.
The one thing that I would add to the wall being at fault, which I don’t think, but to be fair, is that there’s a possibility the enclosure was designed for smaller tigers, and this one was exceptionally large (if she’s the one I think it is, she’s smaller than the others they have), or an exceptional jumper, but again, if she’s the one I think she is, they’ve had her a long time, and would have seen it.
There’s no history of the tigers trying the wall. I think the real issue and blame is the scenario that created the need for the tiger to go over that wall.
Having said that, IF the wall is truly 8’ below recommended height, then that’s a HUGE issue, and perhaps it was just luck that this never happened, or kids were better behaved and had more common sense before not to try this.
I don’t believe this was a case of the tiger just deciding to scale the wall and kill 3 people.
Also, the question is, where were the keepers, the ones I’ve seen, who’s job it is to be there at the railing, to answer questions, and keep idiots from dangling body parts in? Is there a staffing issue, that the kids were *able* to provoke the tiger?
I’m trying to be fair, there are good questions the zoo needs to answer, but I think most of the inquiry, at this point, should be on the kids, and WHY the two brothers initially refused to give their names.
The whole story is fishy. One teen dead, and a beautiful creature destroyed. i just don’t think it was cooincidence, or a random tradgedy, and I don’t think it was from malfeasance or laxity from the part of the SF Zoo, and I’d hate to be wrong about that.
Tigers, and lions, too, don't stop to consider their actions when they perceive a threat. The cat likely lightly touched the top of the wall on the way over. Even a moose can jump a six foot fence and they aren't the type of animal to even think of jumping or leaping.
I don't mean to tar all zoos. But a deficient enclosure that was not up to AZA standards clearly places the ultimate responsibility in one set of hands -- the SF zoo management.
They had to know the wall's height was deficient. That is their profession, their business! So, they were either ignorant or lackadaisical.
Yes, the kids might have provoked the incident. But two lives were lost and two were injured because, ultimately. the zoo was negligent. Criminally so.
The 16'4" standard applies to all tigers except, perhaps, Sumatran tigers (which are quite small and usually kept in roofed cages). And there's no way it wouldn't apply to a Siberian.
The fact that the tiger hadn't tried to scale the wall before (that we know of) is irrelevant. See #118.