Posted on 01/01/2008 6:26:03 AM PST by barryg
Edited on 01/01/2008 6:31:30 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
An empty vodka bottle was also found in a car used by Amritpal Dhaliwal, 19, and his brother, Kulbir, 23, on the day of the mauling, which left 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. dead, according to the source.
The discoveries could be an indication that the brothers may have taunted the 350-pound Siberian tiger before it leapt from its grotto.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
That means they could still get a settlement.
In the wake of Siberian tiger Tatiana’s escape and attack on visitors at the San Francisco Zoo—which left one person dead and two others seriously injured—PETA sent an urgent letter this morning to Manuel A. Mollinedo, executive director and president of the San Francisco Zoo, urging him to phase out the zoo’s tiger exhibit.
Since 1990, there have been more than 220 dangerous incidents in 40 states involving big cats. Four children and 15 adults have lost their lives, and more than 50 others have lost limbs or suffered other injuries after being mauled. The animals involved are victims too—75 big cats, including Tatiana, have been killed because of these incidents.
Captive tigers are forced to spend their entire lives in barren enclosures, which, on average, are 18,000 times smaller than their natural roaming range, according to an Oxford University study. The study also shows that it is simply impossible for captive tigers to express instinctual behaviors, such as staking out territory in dense forests, choosing mates, running, climbing trees, and hunting. Oxford scientists concluded that big cats—who have extraordinarily complex physical and psychological needs—become neurotic when they are confined.
“In the past, the San Francisco Zoo made the honorable decision to close its elephant exhibit and send its elephants to a sanctuary,” says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. “In light of this latest tragedy, it is time for the zoo to do the right thing once again and protect its animals and the public by phasing out its tiger exhibit.”
“Amritpal Dhaliwal, 19, and his brother, Kulbir, 23’
Well, well. If it turns out that a slingshot was indeed used to antagonize the tiger, we can expect a full blown PETA protest right in Armpit and K-bar’s front yard.
can’t we?
Apparently, the drunks in question had no fear of being killed by a tiger walking around outside her confinement!
When my daughter was young we would frequent the SF zoo. I remember seeing a Siberian tiger up close in the lions cages. When it roared and I saw it’s size and teeth that was enough of being near it for me.
Any money the guys involved get is not worth the value of the impressive creature.
Sikhs are all named Singh, furthermore, Sikhs would know better!
Stupidity is the only universal capital crime. It is self-punishing, and there is no appeal.
Y..E..S! These numbnuts deserve special consideration by the Darwin Awards.
Just a thought: might this have been gang related? Maybe an initiation kind of thing or just macho posturing to impress the rest of the gang?
For me, it depends.
How many zoos have had a tiger got out of a enclosure similar to this one......
If it has happened at all before, I would find the zoo at fault, though the monetary compensation would be minimal since they are probably at fault to a certain extent.
Even morons like these kids have reasonable expectation for a tiger enclosure to keep tigers in
This case requires the wisdom of Solomon - -
Give each of the boys $5 million in cash. But put the cash in the tiger’s grotto, protected by three of the dead tiger’s siblings.
Damn! You answered before I even asked!
(who will win the superbowl?$$$)
The tiger should have died a year ago when it ate a zoo-keeper’s arm.
So basically you are saying that they shouldn’t have pissed off the tiger?
An empty vodka bottle in the car? It could be a month old.
Let's be real...that tiger acts like a tiger all the time. It ripped a caretakers arm off last year without being provoked. They didn't put her down because she's a "breeder". It's all about MONEY!!
The zoo keepers wanted to use a dart. Thank God some cop had the common sense to use a bullet.
“furthermore, Sikhs would know better!”
One would certainly assume so, A, but the Dhaliwal are Jets and religiously are most all Sikhs. Perhaps these aren’t, or perhaps a generation in California has degraded them
A new reality-based novel soon to be released by an eminent author: “Taunting the Tiger” by Claude Balls.
I disagree that the animal was tormented. If he had been, he would have hidden.
Instead he was teased, and reacted in a normal way, he went to eliminate the source.
I'm not sure the boy deserved to die, but I'm not going to shed a tear over him.
Sad thing is, this kind of thing has happened before:
Darwin Awards
(2 January 1996, India) A tiger killed one man and mauled another at the Calcutta zoo yesterday when they tried to put a marigold garland around its neck in a New Year’s greeting.
Prakesh Tiwari, the dead man, and Suresh Rai had been drinking before they bought the floral garlands and crossed the moat around the tiger’s enclosure, authorities said. “I was shocked to see the two young men weaving about in front of a tiger with garlands in their hands, “ said Rakesh Banerjee, who witnessed the attack that triggered panic and a near stampede in the zoo.
The men, both in their 20’s, were trying to put the garland on a 13-year old male Royal Bengal tiger named “Shiva” after the Hindu god of destruction. When Rai threw the garland around Shiva’s neck, the tiger attacked him. His friend Tiwari intervened, kicking the tiger in the face. The tiger released Rai, and attacked and killed Tiwari.
“I saw it all; the tiger turned and jumped on the other young man and put its head on the man’s neck, and within moments, the man was apparently dead, his head dangling,” Banerjee said.
The two were reportedly devotees of the goddess Durga and had gone to “worship” the tiger. Immediately after the incident, an angry crowd went on a stone-pelting spree in which two children and a woman were injured.
___
So, this thing may have been a cultural thing. You just never know with this kind of stupidity.
I call BS on PETA. Sounds like propaganda.
These numbers must include all types of facilities that have big cats.
I wonder what the numbers are for zoos only and how many are the handlers that take care of the cats.
The problem is that a lot of juries are not reasonable, and if these are the facts, then it ought to be incumbant upon judges to throw out the case like this before they waste any more time, along with severe penalties on the idiot attornies who bring them.
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