Police: Tiger attack victim was drinking, admitted taunting

[Sister Fracas 5]

Since these ARE wild animals, the only way to completely ensure total safety of the public is to put all of the dangerous animals in triple paned glass enclosers with bars in front...and even then there is the possibility for human error and someone letting an animal out. Animal behavior is unpredictable and even when you think you know the capability of an animal in an enclosure, you don't. Pure and simple.

At present, the human error in this case appears to be that the wall wasn't high enough. Because animal behaviour is so unpredictable, it makes it even more paramount that all precautions are taken. And then double them. At first glance, to me it would seem that the zoo were more concerned with allowing people to gawp at the tigers as close as possible - more exciting, more money - than with doing anything about keeping the public safe.

And then one animal will be able to get past double precaution, and one other might get past triple precaution....you see where this is going?

[Sister Fracas 5]

ahhh well, I guess I'll continue to believe that try as we might, we'll never outsmart wild animals... *shrug*

[♥JP♥ 5]

I honestly don't think another 4 feet of wall would have keep a very agitated tiger from getting out of that grotto.

Well... I can jump over a 4 foot wall. I can't jump over a 10 foot wall - at least... not without a pole vault.

My cat can jump from the floor to a kitchen countertop, but he can't jump from the floor to the top of the fridge.

Same logic applies surely...

The autopsy said the tigers claws were broken and severly scratched up which indicates to me that she didn't jump over the wall, she clawed her way up. I think this is something that the zoo is still questioning.

True. But it still doesn't change the discovery that the wall was below the recommended height, or again - the incident reported in 1996.

I agree but it was also stated that 16 feet is a recommended height, the zoo also passed inspections from the association that makes those recommendations. In the end they are merely recommendations. Again...I don't think another 4 feet of wall would have made a difference to a VERY agitated tiger.

The zoo also has a new exhibit of grizzly bears. they are kept behind very tall glass walls. I would say that this would be the kind of security the zoo would need when they add new safety measures to the exhibit.

[Alex+R 0]

The fact is that these are wild animals and we can't know every possibility when a WILD animal is provoked. People do seem to forget that because the animals seem all fluffy and docile in their exhibit that their behavior is still unpredictable. What I know about zoo exhibit design after working at a zoo for 10 years is that when they design an exhibit for a lion or tiger, they take what knowledge is already out there about how far and how high a cat can jump and then they make those distances of the moats quite a bit wider and higher and if you look at a moat for a big cat you'll notice that the visitor side is not just straight across, but also usually higher than the cat side so that they would not only have to jump across but also jump higher. A tiger or lion is a heavy cat, not usually able to make a jump like that. You'll never see a leopard with amazing jumping ability, in the same kind of exhibit. You can say all you want about San Fran Zoo being negilgent, but there was a saying I remember quite well from my training at the zoo and that was that excitement, provocation AND fear break down barriers in the mind of a wild animal and they can do something they normally wouldn't be able to. Perhaps this was jsut a plain old fight-or-flight response. What I hope people get out of this incident is that these animals need to be respected for what they are. I saw many things that angered the living sh*t out of me when people would taunt the big cats (that was the house I worked in most often) and I tell you I wouldn't have minded taking some of those pople and just letting one of the big cats give them a feline slap on the wrist!!! The other thing that saddens me more than anything is that another endangered animal had to die because of the behavior of some punk idiots. There I said it....I'm more sorry for the life of the cat. If that makes me a bad person, so be it.

ita

Me too. Thanks for saying what I was thinking.

[SteveLaura 0]

Since these ARE wild animals, the only way to completely ensure total safety of the public is to put all of the dangerous animals in triple paned glass enclosers with bars in front...and even then there is the possibility for human error and someone letting an animal out. Animal behavior is unpredictable and even when you think you know the capability of an animal in an enclosure, you don't. Pure and simple.

At present, the human error in this case appears to be that the wall wasn't high enough. Because animal behaviour is so unpredictable, it makes it even more paramount that all precautions are taken. And then double them. At first glance, to me it would seem that the zoo were more concerned with allowing people to gawp at the tigers as close as possible - more exciting, more money - than with doing anything about keeping the public safe.

And then one animal will be able to get past double precaution, and one other might get past triple precaution....you see where this is going?

I do. Which is why it should be constantly reviewed and modifications made. It doesn't appear that this happened in this case.

Zoos are out to make money, of course, and they know that the double/triple precautions may make their enclosures safer but will decrease their profits. They will have to pay for the constant modifications and the public will feel more disconnected from the animals and will stop coming.

With the best precautions in the world, accidents may still occur. But I would expect the very best precautions when it comes to the most dangerous animals. With some of the facts mentioned here, I don't believe this was the case.

[Peikko 1,575]

Like I said, if it makes me a bad person that I feel sorry for the cat...so be it. I don't think anyone DESERVED to die. It was tragic all the way around. Maybe the San Fran Zoo IS a pit that needs to be shut down, I don't know

Have I said anywhere that there is something wrong with you/anyone who feels sorry for the fact that the cat died as a result of what happened? No. Personally I don't think it's a particulary happy event either. However, the fact that the cat died is down to the fact that it escaped, and possibly that the zoo authorities didn't take the initial 911 call seriously, not the actions of the teenagers. Heck, for all we know the cat wasn't scared of the teens at all but found it to be one big exciting game. I heard initially that the tiger wasn't short of food or especially hungry and I don't believe she ate any of her victims. None of this changes the fact that if we have zoos where visitors are permitted then the animals should be properly secured at all times.

[Ban Hammer 13,645]

The fact is that these are wild animals and we can't know every possibility when a WILD animal is provoked. People do seem to forget that because the animals seem all fluffy and docile in their exhibit that their behavior is still unpredictable. What I know about zoo exhibit design after working at a zoo for 10 years is that when they design an exhibit for a lion or tiger, they take what knowledge is already out there about how far and how high a cat can jump and then they make those distances of the moats quite a bit wider and higher and if you look at a moat for a big cat you'll notice that the visitor side is not just straight across, but also usually higher than the cat side so that they would not only have to jump across but also jump higher. A tiger or lion is a heavy cat, not usually able to make a jump like that. You'll never see a leopard with amazing jumping ability, in the same kind of exhibit. You can say all you want about San Fran Zoo being negilgent, but there was a saying I remember quite well from my training at the zoo and that was that excitement, provocation AND fear break down barriers in the mind of a wild animal and they can do something they normally wouldn't be able to. Perhaps this was jsut a plain old fight-or-flight response. What I hope people get out of this incident is that these animals need to be respected for what they are. I saw many things that angered the living sh*t out of me when people would taunt the big cats (that was the house I worked in most often) and I tell you I wouldn't have minded taking some of those pople and just letting one of the big cats give them a feline slap on the wrist!!! The other thing that saddens me more than anything is that another endangered animal had to die because of the behavior of some punk idiots. There I said it....I'm more sorry for the life of the cat. If that makes me a bad person, so be it.

ita

Me too. Thanks for saying what I was thinking.

see, we can agree

[Alex+R 0]

We always agree about animals, at the core of things.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I have this sudden, inexplicable urge to go tiger hunting.

Of course, first, I gotta get Charles to teach me how to use a damn firearm.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The fact is that these are wild animals and we can't know every possibility when a WILD animal is provoked. People do seem to forget that because the animals seem all fluffy and docile in their exhibit that their behavior is still unpredictable. What I know about zoo exhibit design after working at a zoo for 10 years is that when they design an exhibit for a lion or tiger, they take what knowledge is already out there about how far and how high a cat can jump and then they make those distances of the moats quite a bit wider and higher and if you look at a moat for a big cat you'll notice that the visitor side is not just straight across, but also usually higher than the cat side so that they would not only have to jump across but also jump higher. A tiger or lion is a heavy cat, not usually able to make a jump like that. You'll never see a leopard with amazing jumping ability, in the same kind of exhibit. You can say all you want about San Fran Zoo being negilgent, but there was a saying I remember quite well from my training at the zoo and that was that excitement, provocation AND fear break down barriers in the mind of a wild animal and they can do something they normally wouldn't be able to. Perhaps this was jsut a plain old fight-or-flight response. What I hope people get out of this incident is that these animals need to be respected for what they are. I saw many things that angered the living sh*t out of me when people would taunt the big cats (that was the house I worked in most often) and I tell you I wouldn't have minded taking some of those pople and just letting one of the big cats give them a feline slap on the wrist!!! The other thing that saddens me more than anything is that another endangered animal had to die because of the behavior of some punk idiots. There I said it....I'm more sorry for the life of the cat. If that makes me a bad person, so be it.

Great post, sister fracas.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Perhaps, I better hide!

I have this sudden, inexplicable urge to go tiger hunting.

Of course, first, I gotta get Charles to teach me how to use a damn firearm.

I concur!

The fact is that these are wild animals and we can't know every possibility when a WILD animal is provoked. People do seem to forget that because the animals seem all fluffy and docile in their exhibit that their behavior is still unpredictable. What I know about zoo exhibit design after working at a zoo for 10 years is that when they design an exhibit for a lion or tiger, they take what knowledge is already out there about how far and how high a cat can jump and then they make those distances of the moats quite a bit wider and higher and if you look at a moat for a big cat you'll notice that the visitor side is not just straight across, but also usually higher than the cat side so that they would not only have to jump across but also jump higher. A tiger or lion is a heavy cat, not usually able to make a jump like that. You'll never see a leopard with amazing jumping ability, in the same kind of exhibit. You can say all you want about San Fran Zoo being negilgent, but there was a saying I remember quite well from my training at the zoo and that was that excitement, provocation AND fear break down barriers in the mind of a wild animal and they can do something they normally wouldn't be able to. Perhaps this was jsut a plain old fight-or-flight response. What I hope people get out of this incident is that these animals need to be respected for what they are. I saw many things that angered the living sh*t out of me when people would taunt the big cats (that was the house I worked in most often) and I tell you I wouldn't have minded taking some of those pople and just letting one of the big cats give them a feline slap on the wrist!!! The other thing that saddens me more than anything is that another endangered animal had to die because of the behavior of some punk idiots. There I said it....I'm more sorry for the life of the cat. If that makes me a bad person, so be it.

Great post, sister fracas.

[NavarreMan 10]

1) Wild animals should be kept in enclosures that are secure enough to contain them.

2) If you don't want your animals to be taunted, keep humans out of your zoo.

And keep your wild teenagers locked up!

[Ban Hammer 13,645]

We always agree about animals, at the core of things.

let's grab some spray paint and go hang out by a fur shop

I have this sudden, inexplicable urge to go tiger hunting.

Of course, first, I gotta get Charles to teach me how to use a damn firearm.

actually, if you want to go tiger hunting, i'd suggest you get your head examined. you stand a good chance of going from hunter to hunted real quick with them.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I have this sudden, inexplicable urge to go tiger hunting.

Of course, first, I gotta get Charles to teach me how to use a damn firearm.

actually, if you want to go tiger hunting, i'd suggest you get your head examined. you stand a good chance of going from hunter to hunted real quick with them.

Hmmm. British colonialists with rifles hunted the Indian tiger into near extinction. I guess they were better hunters than you

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]