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San Francisco Zoo: Tiger Kills Visitor!
- Thread starter mpw
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From CNN
Fong said fire and police responded to emergency calls shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday. When police arrived, they saw the tiger "sitting next to a person on the ground," and the tiger turned back and began attacking the person again, she said. Officers yelled at the tiger to stop............................
That's so funny......"Hey, you in the stripey coat....stop what you are doing"
Fong said fire and police responded to emergency calls shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday. When police arrived, they saw the tiger "sitting next to a person on the ground," and the tiger turned back and began attacking the person again, she said. Officers yelled at the tiger to stop............................
That's so funny......"Hey, you in the stripey coat....stop what you are doing"
Ahh such a good combination: a deadly killing machine and a stupid 17 year old who lacks common sense and has nothing better to do with his time.
Zoos can and do provide an invaluable 21st century need, providing education, species rehabilitation and growth, study and more. Without zoos, we'd be left with nothing more than Discovery Channel or PBS documentaries showing something on camera (and pledge drives), providing no immediate, visceral emotional attraction and hopefully interest and involvement in the preservation of various species. In the end, we'd likely lose more than we saved. A well-managed, responsibly operated zoo is critical for promoting and preserving as much wildlife as possible.
Growing up in San Diego, I know more than a little about the topic, and watched the San Diego Zoo grow from an early-century "monkeys in a cage" venue into something that, while still open to improvement, gave hope that there was somebody doing something that gave some promise for the future. That institution in particular, attracts some of the finest minds in the field to work and study; there are Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science PhD's shoveling poop in the enclosures just to work there.
Face it, unless most of the public can see and hear and smell these incredible beasts "in the flesh", they're less likely to really care enough to endorse, promote, and demand protection and sensible management. Most of my concern for the wild came from my thousands of trips to the zoo and developing--at first--a purely emotional connection, then continuing to want to know and learn more, and moving on to endorsing their care more strongly than I would had I only seen "March of the Penguins".
Growing up in San Diego, I know more than a little about the topic, and watched the San Diego Zoo grow from an early-century "monkeys in a cage" venue into something that, while still open to improvement, gave hope that there was somebody doing something that gave some promise for the future. That institution in particular, attracts some of the finest minds in the field to work and study; there are Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science PhD's shoveling poop in the enclosures just to work there.
Face it, unless most of the public can see and hear and smell these incredible beasts "in the flesh", they're less likely to really care enough to endorse, promote, and demand protection and sensible management. Most of my concern for the wild came from my thousands of trips to the zoo and developing--at first--a purely emotional connection, then continuing to want to know and learn more, and moving on to endorsing their care more strongly than I would had I only seen "March of the Penguins".
True, but then regardless of the rationale, it's never uplifting to see anything in captivity. We can only hope (and trust) that something better for them as a whole comes of it.
Before everyone jumps to conclusions and starts assuming the victim deserves a Darwin award.. the wall that the tiger jumped over was 4 ft shorter than industry standards (12 and a half feet.. i think a tiger can easily jump over that.. hell my fat cat can jump probably 4 or 5 feet)
Sad thing is.. apparently the zoo directors don't check the actual height.. they just rely on the blueprints.. like one guy said "I'll measure with a tape just to be sure.."
Sad thing is.. apparently the zoo directors don't check the actual height.. they just rely on the blueprints.. like one guy said "I'll measure with a tape just to be sure.."
Before everyone jumps to conclusions and starts assuming the victim deserves a Darwin award.. the wall that the tiger jumped over was 4 ft shorter than industry standards (12 and a half feet.. i think a tiger can easily jump over that.. hell my fat cat can jump probably 4 or 5 feet)
Sad thing is.. apparently the zoo directors don't check the actual height.. they just rely on the blueprints.. like one guy said "I'll measure with a tape just to be sure.."
Oh in that case it makes perfect sense for a 17 year old kid to climb a fence into a tiger enclosure and stretch his leg out across the mote while taunting the tiger (the biggest species of tiger on the planet). I mean the wall was 4 feet too short - I am not sure why I haven't done the same thing when I have been to the SF zoo.
Uh.. did you see where I wrote 'jump to conclusions"?
The earlier report said that there was a shoe found in the enclosure.. but police later confirmed that no shoe was found. They based the taunting on the fact that they found a shoe in the enclosure.
Now, *if* that kid did climb and do all that.. then it would obviously aggravate the tiger enough to jump out and attack him.. but recent reports state nothing of the kind.
Well our local news just reported the opposite. It seems more and more that the kid did indeed attempt to aggravate the tiger.
The Tiger was fired..... at
AmbitiousLemon said:
And if you're stupid enough to taunght a wild animal you get what you deserve, Steve Irwin the patron Saint of Morons is testament the Darwaism at it's best as well.
Zoos are such a mixed bag. On one hand, they create awareness, exposure, a connection between our concrete world and the beauty of nature. On the other hand, many zoo animals are despondent, neurotic, depressed.
Yes, and that happens everywhere. Kids wanting to take a picture of a monkey.. if the monkey's asleep.. they will try and bang the glass walls.. to wake it up just to see it move or get a shot. Or whatever, you can't really control human behavior in most cases - but it is the zoo's responsibility to maintain a safe environment.
Sure, if this guy taunted the tiger, you could then say that the tiger acted appropriately, but I don't think his death was 'deserved' as many people here seem to suggest. I don't know how people make jokes about it - what if it was your family member that was killed in this situation?
A tiger or any wild animal can be aggravated by anything - not just taunting. Heck, it could be hungry and that could piss it off - or be mad at it's mate or whatever.. doesn't mean that safety is compromised. It's a little shocking that the wall was 4 feet short - heck, I think 16 feet is still short for a tiger!
Well this "kid" was 17. I think that's old enough to know to not taunt a tiger. Sure the zoo needs to maintain safety, I'm not doubting that, but if this kid was intentionally taunting the tiger, I feel that it was killed unnecessarily.
We're not suggesting that he "deserved" his death, but when the family decides to sue the zoo (and let's face it, they will) I think how much the guy taunted the tiger is quite important. It is a sad situation, and I can see how the joking can upset some people, but there's no harm in seeing some humor in this, after all, we're not saying it to the family's face.
If a tiger is taunted by other things, it's not likely to "hunt" a few people in particular. I believe the way this guy taunted the tiger made him a threat in the eyes of the tiger, and hence, the tiger believed he had to die for the tiger's safety.
I'm going to have to disagree. That wall has served its purpose for how many years now? With how many billions of visitors to the zoo? Not a single death in the last 20 years (or more)... and now after that jackass taunted the wild animal, everyone goes all crazy over it? I call BS. I think if the guy really did taunt the animal, there shouldn't be any way for the family to get anything out of it. It was his own stupidity that brought about his death. If anything, the zoo should sue the dude's family for having lost one of their tigers.
Just my opinion. I'm an avid people hater. We're capable of rational thought and decision making. That poor animal was acting on instinct, probably considered the guy a threat, and did what it did. People are idiots, this guy should be nominated for a Darwin award.
I partially disagree. The guy, if he did taunt the tiger like we suspect, is largely responsible for his fate, but the zoo still shares a certain amount of the blame. The zoo needs to maintain minimum safety standards just in case a moron does taunt a tiger.
On the classic tort fault scale, I'd put 20% of this on the zoo and 80% on the individual in question.
So the kid climbs over several walls then stretches his leg across the mote and taunts the tiger allowing the tiger to get across and its the zoo's fault? The wall has probably worked perfectly since the 1930s.
You have to be a daft **** to taunt a wild animal but if the enclosure wall wasn't built to the correct height, the Zoo is at fault.
Just because no other tiger has managed to jump the wall in the past 20 years means absolutely nothing.
It's just a pity that such a beautiful animal had to be shot for behaving like an animal ...
LOL! I love the way you put that!
And I agree, it's sad that it had to be shot :-(
Sorry about the language, but I thought the term D.T. fitted the bill nicely. Then we Irish have always been fond of colorful language ....
I could have said he was a feckin ejit, would that be better?