Dumb Yanks: Did a beautiful, innocent creature really have to die?

[red hander]

POLICE are reportedly investigating whether one or more of  the young men mauled by a tiger
at the San Francisco Zoo may  have taunted the animal.

The father of one of the victims said he hoped the reports are not true.

"I don't think my son would do something like taunt animals," Carlos Sousa told ABC's Good Morning America.
"It's unbelievable, but only the evidence can prove that. And right now I can't say much."

His son, Carlos Sousa Jr, 17,  was one of three men attacked by a Siberian tiger around closing
time on Tuesday. Police shot the 300lb animal to death after it killed Sousa and severely mauled
two brothers who also were visiting the zoo. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, police found
a shoe and blood in an area between the gate and the edge of the animal's moat, prompting the
possibility that one of the victims dangled a leg or other body part over the edge of the moat.

Police could not confirm the Chronicle's report. "I don't think this deserves to happen to anybody
- taunting or  not taunting," Mr Sousa said.  "Animals should be protected  from the people and the
people should be protected from the animals."  Police Chief Heather Fong said  on Wednesday the
department  opened a criminal investigation  to "determine if there was human involvement in the
tiger getting out or if the tiger was able to get out on its own".

The zoo was to closed yesterday.  One zoo official insisted the  tiger did not get out through an
open door and must have climbed or leaped out. But Jack  Hanna, former director of the
Columbus Zoo, said such a leap would be an unbelievable feat and "virtually impossible".

Instead, he speculated that visitors could have been fooling around and might have taunted
the animal and perhaps even helped it get out by putting a board in the moat, for example.

Ron Magill, a spokesman at the Miami Metro Zoo, said it was unlikely a zoo tiger could make
such a leap, even with a running start. 

"Captive tigers aren't nearly in the kind of shape that wild tigers have to be in to survive," he said.
He said taunting can definitely make an animal more aggressive, but "whether it makes it more
likely to get out of an exhibit is purely speculative".

The tiger, a four-year-old female named Tatiana, ripped the  flesh off a zookeeper's arm just
before Christmas a year ago while the woman was feeding the animal through the bars. A state
investigation blamed the zoo, which installed better equipment at the Lion House, where the big
cats are kept.

Zoo director Manuel Mollinedo said on Wednesday he did not think of destroying Tatiana after
the 2006 incident, because "the tiger was acting as a normal tiger does". As for whether Tatiana
showed any warning signs before Tuesday's attack, he said: "She seemed to be very well-adjusted
into that exhibit."

It was unclear how long the tiger had been loose before it was killed. The three visitors were
attacked around closing time on the 125-acre zoo grounds. Four officers hunted down and shot
the animal after police got an emergency call from a zoo employee.  The zoo has a response team
that can shoot animals but officials and police described the initial moments after the escape
as chaotic.

The first attack happened right outside the tiger's enclosure — Sousa died at the scene. Another
was about 800ft away, in front of the zoo cafe. The police chief said the animal was mauling one of
the survivors, and when officers yelled at it to stop, it turned toward them and they opened fire.
Only then did they see the third victim, police said.  The two injured men, 19 and 23-year-old brothers from San
Jose, were in stable condition on Wednesday at San Francisco General Hospital. They suffered deep bites and claw
wounds on their heads, necks, arms and hands, said Dr Rochelle Dicker, a surgeon. She said they were expected to
recover fully.

Sousa's parents said they did  not know why their son went to the zoo on Tuesday, but it should have been a fun
Christmas Day  activity.

[FL/MAYO]

Yep, I have to agree all Yanks are dumb, every single last one not a brain cell among them.

[pintsofguinness]

Police could not confirm the Chronicle's report. "I don't think this deserves to happen to anybody
- taunting or  not taunting," Mr Sousa said.

I disagree.



btw, any wildlife experts on board?  Would it not be unusual for a tiger to attack out of the blue like that, unless he was hungry or threatened?  In any wildlife programmes I've seen I don't recall any tigers attacking for the sake of it.

[J70]

Its coming out now that the walls and moats were significantly smaller than the zoo director initially stated. If so, some of those people should be up for manslaughter. You're always going to get some idiots (and who wasn't an idiot as a teenager out with your mates?) who will taunt an animal. The important thing is that the animals are protected from the idiots and vice versa.

And yes Pints, wild animals are very unpredictable. Maybe the tiger was "defending" its territory, or maybe it felt threatened. Even when merely being playful, an animal like that can easily kill. Which is why any shortcuts or overlooked deficiencies in the enclosure should be dealt with severely.

[J70]

And Redhander, your title is idiotic.

[Puckoon]

Police could not confirm the Chronicle's report. "I don't think this deserves to happen to anybody
- taunting or  not taunting," Mr Sousa said.

I disagree.



btw, any wildlife experts on board?  Would it not be unusual for a tiger to attack out of the blue like that, unless he was hungry or threatened?  In any wildlife programmes I've seen I don't recall any tigers attacking for the sake of it.

One of the common theories concerning this attack is that when the tiger is raised in captivity - it becomes desensitized to humans and unlike a tiger in the wild, which will avoid humans (except for hunger or being under threat) a captive tiger will not (avoid humans). Combined with the obvious panic that would ensue if a human came face to face with a loose tiger in a zoo - Id expect the worst.

Heads might roll with this particular disaster.

[mannix]

The lad was unlucky.Still, at least they got the culprit, BUT,they could have tazered him like they tazer old women and unarmed civilians in the good ole usa.
Had they never heard of tranquilisers?
Lots of smart people in america but an awful lot of buffoons too, they are in every country but are armed in america, ready to kill to protect their "liberty".

[saffron]

The title of this thread has to be a piss take surely???

[J70]

The lad was unlucky.Still, at least they got the culprit, BUT,they could have tazered him like they tazer old women and unarmed civilians in the good ole usa.
Had they never heard of tranquilisers?
Lots of smart people in america but an awful lot of buffoons too, they are in every country but are armed in america, ready to kill to protect their "liberty".

In my very limited experience with other species (and spare me the Donegal quips! ), tranquilizers take a little bit of time to take effect. This tiger was rampaging. It had mauled a zookeeper on a previous occasion. They made the correct decision to kill it.

And thanks for the advice on tasering. I'd better stop my mother going out to the mall later on, in case some taser-happy cop decides she looks threatening.

[stew]

The lad was unlucky.Still, at least they got the culprit, BUT,they could have tazered him like they tazer old women and unarmed civilians in the good ole usa.
Had they never heard of tranquilisers?
Lots of smart people in america but an awful lot of buffoons too, they are in every country but are armed in america, ready to kill to protect their "liberty".

In my very limited experience with other species (and spare me the Donegal quips! ), tranquilizers take a little bit of time to take effect. This tiger was rampaging. It had mauled a zookeeper on a previous occasion. They made the correct decision to kill it.



And thanks for the advice on tasering. I'd better stop my mother going out to the mall later on, in case some taser-happy cop decides she looks threatening.

The dumb yanks should have tickled the lion into submission, that would maybe have appeased the dickhead that started this thread. 


They did the right thing in this case, they could do nothing else.

[Puckoon]

The lad was unlucky.Still, at least they got the culprit, BUT,they could have tazered him like they tazer old women and unarmed civilians in the good ole usa.
Had they never heard of tranquilisers?
Lots of smart people in america but an awful lot of buffoons too, they are in every country but are armed in america, ready to kill to protect their "liberty".

Mannix, Picture if you will a tiger mauling someone to death 15 feet away from you and then turning and looking at you - would you yell

"Does anyone have a taser?"

Or

"Will somebody please shoot that f**king tiger!"

Im sure action plans only go so far in preparation for an event like this. After that its instinct - and mine would be to shoot the tiger.
Could you imagine if they had tried to taser it and it didnt quite stop the 300lb killing machine? Christ the uproar would be unreal and maybe then - the dumb yanks title might hold some weight.

[red hander]

'The dumb yanks should have tickled the lion into submission, that would maybe have appeased the dickhead that started this thread.'

To be described as a dickhead by Stew is truly an honour, I'm lost for words...

[magickingdom]

red hander, if it wasnt for the yanks you'd be speaking german...

[stew]

'The dumb yanks should have tickled the lion into submission, that would maybe have appeased the dickhead that started this thread.'

To be described as a dickhead by Stew is truly an honour, I'm lost for words...

If only you were!

You are getting hammered for the idiocy of your title on this thread and so you should. It shows you up for the ignorant ballix that you are.

[Square Ball]

One theory that is being investigated is, that the tiger was being teased, one of the people was dangling their legs in through the railings and the tiger used the leg as a ladder rung, jumped on the leg and sprang over the railing