Posted on 12/28/2007 11:16:15 AM PST by RDTF
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- The last minutes of a 17-year-old boy's life were spent trying to save his friend from a brutal tiger mauling at the San Francisco Zoo, only to have the animal turn on him, police and family members said.
Carlos Sousa Jr. and his friend's brother desperately tried to distract the 350-pound Siberian tiger, but the big cat instead came after Sousa.
"He didn't run. He tried to help his friend, and it was him who ended up getting it the worst," the teen's father, Carlos Sousa Sr., said Thursday after meeting with police.
The heroic portrait of Sousa and a timeline of the dramatic Christmas Day attack emerged as officials revealed that the tiger's escape from its enclosure may have been aided by walls that were well below the height recommended by the accrediting agency for the nation's zoos.
San Francisco Zoo Director Manuel A. Mollinedo acknowledged that the wall around the animal's pen was just 12½ feet high, after previously saying it was 18 feet. According to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the walls around a tiger exhibit should be at least 16.4 feet high. Watch why Sousa Sr. believes the zoo could have done more to protect patrons »
Mollinedo said it was becoming increasingly clear the tiger leaped or climbed out, perhaps by grabbing onto a ledge. Investigators have ruled out the theory the tiger escaped through a door behind the exhibit.
"She had to have jumped," he said. "How she was able to jump that high is amazing to me."
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Even while raised in captivity they keep their hunting skills...
The tiger was in the moat. It’s part of its habitat.
I’m sorry these humans were killed/mauled by this animal. But an aside...can’t you imagine their faces, if they’d been taunting her, when Tatiana the tiger started coming up the wall?
Now that would be scary. whew. Glad it’s not true!
I’m uncomfortable when a tiger or lion stares at me, even though I would never taunt or tease (or otherwise tempt) one.
They always look like they’re considering what I would taste like. (quaking)
I just love the “hero” slant the media is playing up on this. These boys had no business being where they were, doing what they were doing and suffered the consequences.
You need to feed your cat better!
It's not at all amazing when you consider the fact that it was a tiger.
None of the news reports indicated that the boys were Democrats. Wait a minute...two of them did have criminal records.
“If you have a tiger by the tail, you better have a plan for the teeth.”
~ Steven Ambrose
oh Reallllllly!!!! My thoughts are reeling, but I can’t say any of them here. LOL
Love Celtic music, have no idea why.
....Bob
Dude had rear paws full of concrete from where he pulled himself up the wall!
That was 8 feet.
Scale that up and you have a tiger who could readily escape that pit with ease!
Actually, I think given the opportunity my Burmese could have scaled the wall anyway. He loved to climb trees and did so without getting dirty bark marks on his paws ~ did the whole thing with his claws!
Last word on the shoe (from the cops) is “no shoe”.
“Memorial” MySpace page set up for Carlos:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=304922852
My favorite comment:
IF YOU ARE BEING CONTACTED BY THE MEDIA ABOUT CARLOS, DON’T TALK!
ANYTHING YOU SAY CAN BE USED AGAINST THE FAMILY IN COURT!!!
OR EVEN CAUSE YOU TO BE A WITNESS.
PLEASE!!! PLEASE!! PLEASE!! LET CARLOS’S FAMILY MAKE THE DECISIONS ON WHO THEY WANT TO TALK TO. LEAVE IT UP TO THE PEOPLE WHO KNEW HIM BEST.
IF YOU WANT TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT INSTEAD OF MAKING COMMENTS ABOUT HIM WHY NOT MAKE A DONATION??
THANK YOU, OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE SOUSA FAMILY...
Oh (innocent look) and here I thought it was the topic of the song you loved. (snicker)
Give his family money. This sounds crass. Sorry, but it does.
witness tampering
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