Police: Teen died saving friend from tiger

cnn.com ^ | Dec 28, 2007 | AP

[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-

[hellbender]

I think adult house cats weigh much more than 1 pound. Also, strength (or at least leaping ability) does not increase in proportion with weight. That’s one reason why top female gymnasts are not adults, but little girls. Still, if a house cat can jump 3 vertical feet effortlessly, it seems that 12 feet wouldn’t strain a tiger too much.

[Lokibob]

In the NBA, many 7 foot 150 pound players can reach 12 feet, but I can only think of one (Karl Malone) that was 300+ pounds, and still could barely reach 12 feet.

Sorry, but scaling a house kitty up to 350 pounds simply does not work. That said, the tiger DID scale the fence, but I would bet not with the ease of a house cat.

.....Bob

[hellbender]

I didn’t mean that you could literally scale things up, in a mathematically precise way. However, the jumping ability of any large cat far exceeds that of a 2-legged human being. The NBA players are able to get their hands up less than half their height over their head height, if I understand your statement right. Any house cat can jump vertically several times its body length, and land in complete control. The large wild cats are incredibly strong. Leopards can carry large prey up trees, and mountain lions can drag deer uphill. I’ve seen amazing long-jump distances recorded for big cats, but I don’t have the numbers offhand. Human beings are really pretty feeble. The only physical feats at which we excel many animals are running and throwing (only other primates can throw missiles somewhat the way we can). I’m amazed at how many people thought that the moat, if filled with water, could have stopped a tiger. Tigers can swim very well.

[RDTF]

thanks for the update

[SouthTexas]

I was just giving you a hared time for starving your cat, the "one pounder". ;)

Someone posted on another thread about the wall height before the moat. This seems to me as the most logical point of exit.

[RDTF]

yea - I can’t blame them.

But I still mourn the death of the tiger too.

[Dusty Road]

As i stated on here yesterday. I personally witnessed a bobcat jump 10 ft to get on my roof when he was chasing my Peacocks. 12 1/2 feet seems very possible for a tiger.

[cricket]

No question about zoo's liability here. OTOH. . .abusing animals; 'caged animals' is a heinous act and one that should mandate, severe legal consequences.

Meantime, are the 'witnesses'/perps cooperating? Or, are they refusing to 'incriminate' themselves. . .

And, despite costs. . .given the sick temperature of too many people these days; every Zoo should have cameras running.

[cricket]

No doubt the longest, scariest 300 yards they had ever run. . .have thought about those last moments. One moment; as a kid; taking advantage of an amimal; imagining a 'power trip' of sorts; and then. . .it's over.

It was unneccesary; should not have happened. . .they were 'wrong'; but 'dead' wrong, for the friend; and almost dead wrong, for the other two; and just 'dead' for this beautiful animal; speaks to a sad, sad scenario.

[cherry]

many people take risks with their lives.....do you draw pleasure from that?

[DeLaine]

No, and I’m not much of a risk taker myself.

[TheMole]

Let's see if I can post a picture of the deceased, as found on his cousin's MySpace page (click here to view the page and listen to its embedded soundtrack Life of Crime by Mob Trial Trilogy, a good example of the East Bay hyphy drug-thug culture that the deceased was into) which should show an upstanding young citizen in a hoodie and Raiders jacket: