Tiger escape

[urbpan]

Whoa! Not sure how I missed this story, but I just read (in two places on my friends list so far) that there was a tiger escape at the San Francisco zoo, resulting in one human death and one tiger death:

I feel very bad for the victims and their loved ones, and for everyone at the zoo. Looking at this article, a few things come to mind immediately. The man who was killed was one of a group of three young men (18-23). Sorry to say, a scenario where these men were harassing the tiger immediately comes to mind. It's not fair for me to speculate that, but that's what I picture, involuntarily. The tiger escaped by leaping across a moat and climbing a fence. Again, what motivated this behavior? There are animals in moated, fenced enclosures all around the world, because those kinds of enclosures generally work. Despite popular mythology, animals aren't constantly seeking their freedom. Most, given the choice, prefer the security of their territories (cages).

I also see that the media attempted to get the keepers to talk about the incident, and all of them kept quiet. That's official protocol, and they did good.

The police shot the tiger dead, and well they should have. One lj comm I belong to is full of noise of those who think the tiger should have been tranquilized. Dart guns are simply not used when an animal as dangerous as a tiger has escaped. There are too many variables, and while you are calculating the dosage, loading the gun, and aiming at the right spot on the animal, it could be killing more people. Once you have successfully darted an animal, then you have to wait for it to go down--it's not instantaneous. The animal gets drunk and wobbles around, and is more dangerous than before it was darted. As much as I love animals, and regret the loss of something as rare as a tiger, they did the right thing by shooting this tiger.

A lousy situation all around, and I hope the other two men (in critical condition) pull through okay.

I used to volunteer at the San Francisco Zoo, and everyone I met was kind and professional. I hope they get through this okay, too.

Comments

[candent.livejournal.com]

What an awful situation for everyone.

[bellelvsbeast.livejournal.com]

I live in the area and didn't know that...wow...
But I agree with you, animals usually have a reason for doing the things they do...and it seems the person was trying to see what it could get the tiger to do...
It reminds me of when the elephant escaped the circus in Hawaii and went on a rampage, killing like three people and the police shot it dead...took 72 rounds...I watch it and cried...it was the sadest thing I ever saw...
I hope they get through it too...

[bellelvsbeast.livejournal.com]

Apparently my friend/co-worker was working yesterday and county was trying to dispatch her to help in the situation (being animal control and all) and since we don't carry sidearms, she couldn't...but how crazy

[frith]

This is the first I heard about it as well. We do have a protocol for darting escaped animals but conditions have to be just right. The animal has to be on zoo grounds and all people must be out of harms way, like behind closed doors. In the San Fran incident with the tiger not only escaping while there are clients on the property but with the clients not secured in buildings, the tiger's death was to be expected. That the tiger took one person with her does not weigh on the decision. The shoot-to-kill protocol is there to prevent deaths and injuries, not to "avenge" them.

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

First of all - awesome icon! :P

I'm pretty sure the attack occured all the way at the other end of the zoo, and they weren't sure how long she'd been out, which I find odd since it was after closing time. Do they keep their cats in their exhibit overnight? We never do that - they all are secured in dens overnight, so it's hard to tell if they just hadn't brought them in yet or not.

Also, they had to fatally shoot this animal - it was in the process of mauling somebody. In that situation, that is the only proper solution. Besides all the reasons you stated above, it would have only made her more agitated and hence more dangerous. It's a tragic situation all around, and while I think sometimes killing the animal would not have been necessary, in this case it would have been irresponsible not to have done so.

[smallerdemon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think it's less you missed it than it was a pretty late posted story. Incredibly tragic all around.

And good for the keepers staying quiet to the press. They'll have enough answers to give to a lot of people without them being bullied by the press into some sort of pre-investigative admissions of responsibility.

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Okay, nice to see rational comments by professionals. I'm sure I'll be getting an earful of the other end of the spectrum at work today.

[artemii.livejournal.com]

it was on bbc news this morning. they didn't say anything about the keepers at all (much less their not talking) but they did have clips from a fire dept person who talked to the media after the tiger was shot. i didn't catch his name. at the time the segment was filmed, they didn't yet know how the tiger escaped, so i didn't know how till i read this post. your scenario sounds reasonable to me too.

[jainabee.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this, and for your insightful comments. I hadn't heard of it yet, either.

[belen1974.livejournal.com]

it seems like your suspicions may have been correct about the tiger being taunted: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071226/ts_nm/usa_tiger_dc_12