The national standards for a tiger enclosure are a 16'4" vertical barrier.
See post #43 as to who was responsible for the standards.
The SF Zoo originally claimed the barrier was 20' tall.
Now, as it turns out, the barrier was only 12'.
"Maybe" is an understatement.
Maybe the wall still is 20 feet, but the ground just got higher. Erosion from the surrounding walls or wind carrying minute pieces of sand and dirt might have gradually built up over the years (the thing was built in the 40’s)until the distance from the bottom of the moat to the top of the wall was only 12.5 feet.
It is a maybe IMO, still because there are different reports. If it was too low then the zoo will and should have to accept responsibility. I'm sceptical though. It could happen but don't they have government inspections? How could this have been an oversite all these years? We may see a combination where regs weren't met and the young men were on the wrong side of the fence too. I don't know. Time will tell, I guess.