Tiger busts loose at zoo and kills 1, injures 2

[Bump]

Wow that would suck! I did a search and got nothing so I hope this isn't a repost!


By LOUISE CHU, Associated Press Writer
18 minutes ago



SAN FRANCISCO - A tiger that mauled a zookeeper last year escaped from its pen at the San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday, killing one man and injuring two others before police shot it dead, authorities said.

The three men were in their 20s; they were together and were not zoo employees, San Francisco Police spokesman Steve Mannina said. They were attacked just after the 5 p.m. closing time outside the zoo's Terrace Cafe on the east end of the 125-acre grounds.

It was unclear how the tiger escaped or how long it was on the loose. The approximately 300-pound female Siberian tiger, named Tatiana, attacked a zookeeper last December during a public feeding, according to the zoo's director of animal care and conservation.

The zoo, which is open 365 days a year, was evacuated immediately after the attack was reported.

The two injured men were in critical but stable condition at San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco Fire Department spokesman Lt. Ken Smith said. A call to the supervising nurse at San Francisco General was not immediately returned.

"This is a tragic event for San Francisco," Smith said. "We pride ourselves in our zoo, and we pride ourselves in tourists coming and looking at our city."

Authorities did not believe there were any other people attacked, but because it was dark they could not be certain. Investigators remained on the scene and Smith said a thorough sweep of the grounds would be conducted in the morning.

Investigators working to understand what happened have sketched a chilling picture.

The first attack happened right outside the Siberian's enclosure — the victim died on the scene. A group of four responding officers came across his body when they made their way into the dark zoo grounds, said Mannina.

Then they saw the second victim. He was about 300 yards away, in front of the Terrace Cafe.

The man was sitting on the ground, blood running from gashes in his head. Tatiana sat next to him. Suddenly, the cat attacked the man again, Mannina said.

The officers started approaching the animal, bearing their handguns. Tatiana started moving in their direction. Several of the officers then fired, killing the animal.

Although no new visitors were let in after 5:00 p.m., the grounds were not scheduled to close until an hour later, and there were between 20 and 25 people still on site when the attacks happened, zoo officials said.

There were five tigers at the zoo — three Sumatrans, and two Siberians. Officials initially worried that four tigers had escaped, but they soon learned that only one had escaped its pen, according to Mannina.

Last December, the animal reached through the cage's iron bars and badly lacerated the zookeeper's arm. The zoo's Lion House was temporarily closed during an investigation.

California's Division of Occupation Safety and Health blamed the zoo for the assault and imposed a $18,000 penalty, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that he was deeply saddened by the incident and said a thorough investigation is under way.

Following last year's attack, the zoo added customized steel mesh over the bars, built in a feeding shoot and increased the distance between the public and the cats.

The zoo will be closed on Wednesday.

___

[Micjones]

Major lawsuit forthcoming.

[CoMoChief]

http://www.miltontrainworks.com/MTW/services/KCC/images/K_tony_thumbs_up.jpg

ROFL

[Bump]

$100 says PETA gets involved in this as the cops shot down the tiger. "They were taken out of their natural environment....blah blah blah.....it was just acting out of instinct....blah blah blah....the cops should go to jail for killing this precious creature....blah blah blah"

[CoMoChief]

$100 says PETA gets involved in this as the cops shot down the tiger. "They were taken out of their natural environment....blah blah blah.....it was just acting out of instinct....blah blah blah....the cops should go to jail for killing this precious creature....blah blah blah"
Son you ever seen a grown man naked????!

[kcfanXIII]

$100 says PETA gets involved in this as the cops shot down the tiger. "They were taken out of their natural environment....blah blah blah.....it was just acting out of instinct....blah blah blah....the cops should go to jail for killing this precious creature....blah blah blah"


as long as eve mendez is naked, they got my attention.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h173/kcfanxiii/Eva_Mendes_Nude_ad.jpg

[ClevelandBronco]

It was really just a matter of time before the general public was in danger. Tiger's been mauling guys on golf courses for years now.

http://images.askmen.com/galleries/men/tiger-woods/pictures/tiger-woods-picture-1.jpg

[Bump]

as long as eve mendez is naked, they got my attention.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h173/kcfanxiii/Eva_Mendes_Nude_ad.jpg


ok, well if Eva Mendes wants to show up naked than I'm all for it! :drool:

[Thig Lyfe]

Bush has already stated intentions to declare a War on Tigers.

[ClevelandBronco]

Bush has already stated intentions to declare a War on Tigers.

Too specific.

Maybe a war on any large cats.

[Thig Lyfe]

Too specific.

Maybe a war on any large cats.

War on things with tails.

[ClevelandBronco]

War on things with tails.

And without tails.

I think we've narrowed it down sufficiently.

[ClevelandBronco]

War on things that are thinking of developing tails for peaceful purposes. That's it.

[Otter]

If someone where to put me in a cage for my entire life when all I knew was how to stalk and kill then all of a sudden give me free roam with them...guess what I'm doing?

The throat looks like it has some plump arteries pulsing though it.

Can someone say "if you mess with the bull"

[CrazyPhuD]

I guess he was really pissed mizzou got screwed out of the BCS bowl.

I guess what they say is true...the only good place to display a tiger is on the wall. :)

[mcan]

War on things that are thinking of developing tails for peaceful purposes. That's it.


...A war on people who think that Tigers developed tails from millions of years of evolution.

[HonestChieffan]

Tigers eat people. That is not news in India.

[chagrin]

3 guys together in San Francisco?

[Kerberos]

With that thread titile I was convinced this was about Woods finally going looney and killing someone.

:shake:

[MTG#10]

3 guys together in San Francisco?
ROFL

[gblowfish]

I understand the guy that got attacked was wearing a KU sweatshirt.

Tiger said he tasted like chicken.

[Demonpenz]

Kenny rogers finally lost it

[Chief Chief]

If a 'dumb' animal like a tiger can figure out a way to get out of a recently-improved cage, ya gotta wonder how soon an intelligent, crazed murderer will escape Supermax?

[MOhillbilly]

i wanna tiger so bad.

[Eleazar]

Uh. Someone probably ought to do something about the NSFW picture linked in this thread.

[banyon]

The actual tiger on the left.

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/5584/thumbs/s-TIGERATTACK-large.jpg

[Rain Man]

When a POW keeps trying to escape, we think it's heroic. When a POZ keeps trying to escape, we don't like it. I personally admire that tiger for never giving up.

[Skip Towne]

With that thread titile I was convinced this was about Woods finally going looney and killing someone.

:shake:
Don't click a camera while he's putting.

[BigRedChief]

Sources close to the investigation told the San Francisco Chronicle that police are probing whether one of the Siberian tiger's three victims climbed over a fence Christmas Day and then dangled a leg or other body part over the moat.

Police said Carlos Sousa, 17, of San Jose was killed just outside the tiger's enclosure. The two others, who were injured, were about 300 yards away by a cafe. http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gifWatch more on clues from the deadly attack » (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/27/tiger.attack/index.html#cnnSTCVideo)

A shoe and blood were found between the fence and the moat, the Chronicle reported, and a footprint has been found on a metal fence at the zoo (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/zoos_and_aquariums). The investigation is looking into the possibility that the tiger escaped by latching on to a leg or other body part, the paper reported.

"Somebody created a situation that really agitated [the tiger] and and gave her some method to break her out," zoo director Manuel Mollinedo told the Chronicle. "A couple of feet dangling over the edge could possibly have done it."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/27/tiger.attack/index.html

[DaKCMan AP]

Still don't think they had to kill the tiger. Could have shot it with tranquilizers or something. It's a wild animal. No shit it's going to attack someone given the chance.

[BigRedChief]

Still don't think they had to kill the tiger. Could have shot it with tranquilizers or something. It's a wild animal. No shit it's going to attack someone given the chance.
welll duh??!!@!!! It's a hunter, king of the beasts. It's just been taunted and now its free and poissed off. Whats going to happen? Is it the Tigers fault? It should learn to take taunting lying down and not get mad?

Sounds like to me the tiger uses the dudes leg to grab ahold of him and crawl up his body up and over the fence.

Can't sue the Zoo. Can't blame the tiger. Gots to blame someone, right?:hmmm:

[seclark]

welll duh??!!@!!! It's a hunter, king of the beasts.
don't mean to be picky here, but i thought the lion was the king of beasts. of course, a siberian tiger might be royalty somehow.
sec

[Frazod]

Sources close to the investigation told the San Francisco Chronicle that police are probing whether one of the Siberian tiger's three victims climbed over a fence Christmas Day and then dangled a leg or other body part over the moat.

Police said Carlos Sousa, 17, of San Jose was killed just outside the tiger's enclosure. The two others, who were injured, were about 300 yards away by a cafe. http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gifWatch more on clues from the deadly attack » (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/27/tiger.attack/index.html#cnnSTCVideo)

A shoe and blood were found between the fence and the moat, the Chronicle reported, and a footprint has been found on a metal fence at the zoo (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/zoos_and_aquariums). The investigation is looking into the possibility that the tiger escaped by latching on to a leg or other body part, the paper reported.

"Somebody created a situation that really agitated [the tiger] and and gave her some method to break her out," zoo director Manuel Mollinedo told the Chronicle. "A couple of feet dangling over the edge could possibly have done it."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/27/tiger.attack/index.html

Hello, Darwin Award.

Too bad they had to whack the tiger.

[Rain Man]

don't mean to be picky here, but i thought the lion was the king of beasts. of course, a siberian tiger might be royalty somehow.
sec

I don't know how they pick these. I would think a tiger would have more of a claim because tigers will go into water to beat up sharks. Lions pretty much just stay on land.

[Rain Man]

The investigation is looking into the possibility that the tiger escaped by latching on to a leg or other body part, the paper reported.

"Somebody created a situation that really agitated [the tiger] and and gave her some method to break her out," zoo director Manuel Mollinedo told the Chronicle. "A couple of feet dangling over the edge could possibly have done it."




I don't know why, but I find this kind of funny. It's too bad that a couple of other innocent people and an innocent tiger had to die because of it, though.

[CrazyPhuD]

Still don't think they had to kill the tiger. Could have shot it with tranquilizers or something. It's a wild animal. No shit it's going to attack someone given the chance.

Unfortunately once something like a tiger is out of it's cage you have to shoot to kill. Tranquilizers just don't work fast enough. With people around and how fast those cats move it's just too dangerous not to shoot.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

It is now being reported that the moat wall was only 12.4' high, and the recommended height per AZA is 16'.

I did some work at our zoo outside the cats area once. One day, a tiger climbed the wire mesh enclosure and scared the hell out of a roofer on the job that was leaning against the cage some 16 feet in the air. They are very agile animals.

A keeper also told us that one of the lions had once grabbed a chicken somehow through 2" mesh, and pulled the chicken right through into the cage. Chicken nuggets anyone?

[Frazod]

I don't know why, but I find this kind of funny. It's too bad that a couple of other innocent people and an innocent tiger had to die because of it, though.

Sometimes being a dumbass can be fatal.

And sometimes being friends with a dumbass can be fatal and/or extremely hazardous.

"I'm really going to miss Carlos, but if he hadn't got eaten by that damned tiger, I'd sure kick his stupid ass over this." :D

[Rain Man]

Unfortunately once something like a tiger is out of it's cage you have to shoot to kill. Tranquilizers just don't work fast enough. With people around and how fast those cats move it's just too dangerous not to shoot.

That really depends on your acceptable ratio of dead humans to dead tigers. Mine is pretty high, assuming of course I'm not visiting the zoo that day.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

That Tiger didn't go crazy, that Tiger went Tiger

BTW...I wonder how the cops killed it. It would take a lot of shells from a 9 to drop a tiger. Hell, they'd have a hard time dropping one with a 12 gauge.

[DaFace]

Following last year's attack, the zoo added customized steel mesh over the bars, built in a feeding shoot and increased the distance between the public and the cats.

What I wanna know is how you can be a writer for the AP and not know the difference between "shoot" and a "chute."

[Mecca]

Yes we put wild animals in cages then wonder why they attack people.....

People are brilliant.

[Rain Man]

What I wanna know is how you can be a writer for the AP and not know the difference between "shoot" and a "chute."

Maybe it was one of those guns that shoots chickens at airplane windshields.

[Bump]

ya why didn't they just shoot tranquilizers at it? Maybe it was on the loose and about to attack again? can't really blame the tiger

[ChiefaRoo]

Fook that Tiger.

[CrazyPhuD]

update....

http://cbs5.com/local/tiger.attack.affadavit.2.632723.html

you fought the paw and the paw won!

SFPD Says Zoo Attack Victim Admitted Tiger Taunts
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― One of the three victims of the San Francisco Zoo tiger attack was intoxicated and admitted standing atop a railing of the big cat enclosure and yelling and waving at the animal that would later maul them, killing his friend, police said in court documents filed late Thursday.

Paul Dhaliwal, 19, told the father of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, who was killed, that the three yelled and waved at the tiger but insisted they never threw anything into its pen to provoke the cat, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

The affidavit, which requested a search warrant for the surviving victims' cells phones and car, also cites multiple reports of a group of young men taunting animals at the zoo.

Toxicology results for Dhaliwal showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.16 percent after the attack - twice the legal threshold for drunkenness - while his 24-year-old brother Kulbir Dhaliwal's blood alcohol level was 0.04 percent and Sousa's was 0.02 percent, according to Inspector Valerie Matthews, who prepared the affidavit.

All three also had marijuana in their systems, Matthews said. Kulbir Dhaliwal told police that the three had smoked pot and each had "a couple shots of vodka" before leaving San Jose for the zoo on Dec. 25, the affidavit said.

Police found a small amount of marijuana in Kulbir Dhaliwal's 2002 BMW, which the victims rode to the zoo, as well as a partially filled bottle of vodka, according to the court documents.

Investigators also recovered messages and images from the cell phones, but apparently nothing incriminating in connection with the tiger attack, the Chronicle reported.

The affidavit also includes an account by Sousa's father, Carlos Sousa Sr., who said he spoke with Paul Dhaliwal after the attack. Sousa said the teen told him the three stood on a 3-foot-tall metal railing a few feet from the edge of the tiger moat, and "when they got down they heard a noise in the bushes, and the tiger was jumping out of the bushes on him (Paul Dhaliwal)," the documents said.

Police found a partial shoe print that matched Paul Dhaliwal's on top of the railing, Matthews said in the documents.

Paul Dhaliwal told Sousa Sr. that no one was dangling their legs or throwing things at the tiger, they said.

"As a result of this investigation, (police believe) that the tiger may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims," Matthews wrote. Police believe that "this factor contributed to the tiger escaping from its enclosure and attacking its victims," she said.

Mark Geragos, an attorney for the Dhaliwal brothers, did not immediately return a call late Thursday by The Associated Press for comment. He has repeatedly said they did not taunt the tiger.

A call to Sousa Sr. also wasn't returned.

Sam Singer, a spokesman for the zoo, said he had not seen the documents but believed the victims did taunt the animal, even though they claim they hadn't.

"Those brothers painted a completely different picture to the public and the press," Singer said. "Now it's starting to come out that what they said is not true."

[Silock]

Darwinism. Too bad the tiger suffered for it.

[CrazyPhuD]

That and no need to do the 80s this is your brain on drugs adds. Screw the egg in the frying pan. New commercial.

This is your friend on drugs.

(shows friend taunting tigers at zoo)

(show tiger jump out of pit and maul friend)

Any questions?

[Silock]

lol

[Valiant]

update....

http://cbs5.com/local/tiger.attack.affadavit.2.632723.html

you fought the paw and the paw won!

SFPD Says Zoo Attack Victim Admitted Tiger Taunts
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― One of the three victims of the San Francisco Zoo tiger attack was intoxicated and admitted standing atop a railing of the big cat enclosure and yelling and waving at the animal that would later maul them, killing his friend, police said in court documents filed late Thursday.

Paul Dhaliwal, 19, told the father of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, who was killed, that the three yelled and waved at the tiger but insisted they never threw anything into its pen to provoke the cat, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

The affidavit, which requested a search warrant for the surviving victims' cells phones and car, also cites multiple reports of a group of young men taunting animals at the zoo.

Toxicology results for Dhaliwal showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.16 percent after the attack - twice the legal threshold for drunkenness - while his 24-year-old brother Kulbir Dhaliwal's blood alcohol level was 0.04 percent and Sousa's was 0.02 percent, according to Inspector Valerie Matthews, who prepared the affidavit.

All three also had marijuana in their systems, Matthews said. Kulbir Dhaliwal told police that the three had smoked pot and each had "a couple shots of vodka" before leaving San Jose for the zoo on Dec. 25, the affidavit said.

Police found a small amount of marijuana in Kulbir Dhaliwal's 2002 BMW, which the victims rode to the zoo, as well as a partially filled bottle of vodka, according to the court documents.

Investigators also recovered messages and images from the cell phones, but apparently nothing incriminating in connection with the tiger attack, the Chronicle reported.

The affidavit also includes an account by Sousa's father, Carlos Sousa Sr., who said he spoke with Paul Dhaliwal after the attack. Sousa said the teen told him the three stood on a 3-foot-tall metal railing a few feet from the edge of the tiger moat, and "when they got down they heard a noise in the bushes, and the tiger was jumping out of the bushes on him (Paul Dhaliwal)," the documents said.

Police found a partial shoe print that matched Paul Dhaliwal's on top of the railing, Matthews said in the documents.

Paul Dhaliwal told Sousa Sr. that no one was dangling their legs or throwing things at the tiger, they said.

"As a result of this investigation, (police believe) that the tiger may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims," Matthews wrote. Police believe that "this factor contributed to the tiger escaping from its enclosure and attacking its victims," she said.

Mark Geragos, an attorney for the Dhaliwal brothers, did not immediately return a call late Thursday by The Associated Press for comment. He has repeatedly said they did not taunt the tiger.

A call to Sousa Sr. also wasn't returned.

Sam Singer, a spokesman for the zoo, said he had not seen the documents but believed the victims did taunt the animal, even though they claim they hadn't.

"Those brothers painted a completely different picture to the public and the press," Singer said. "Now it's starting to come out that what they said is not true."



Hope they get sued by the dead guys family and zoo..

[C-Mac]

Sorry, couldnt help but to keep thinking of this..

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[Bwana]

Darwinism. Too bad the tiger suffered for it.

That was my thought as well. "Gee, lets go smoke a fat one, then get liquored up to twice the legal limit, oh yeah, and after that, lets go tease the tigers at the zoo!!" LMAO Oooooooooops!


Darwinism indeed..................

[Baby Lee]

That Tiger didn't go crazy, that Tiger went Tiger
ROFL ROFL

"You know when that Tiger went crazy? When he's riding a little bicycle with a Hitler helmet on. . . . 'Ahma Crazy Tiger.' . . "

[BigRedChief]

Police say they were drunk and taunting the tiger before they got atacked. Who gets drunk during Christmas Day and visits the Zoo?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/18/tiger.attack.ap/index.html