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

[Tyrones own]

  Seemingly the victims shoe and part of his trouser leg was found inside the enclosure which might
  lean towards the reported taunting alright, Idiot......

[mannix]

america, land of the free and the home of the brave.

the tiger got free and the cops were brave.

[slow corner back]

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

I think the russians might have had something to say about that

[Puckoon]

america, land of the free and the home of the brave.

the tiger got free and the cops were brave.

Whats with all the skepticism mannix? Is this a new thing? Are the sleepless nights getting to you?

[mannix]

Not unduly upset by sleepless nights as I always slept very little anyway.I am joking about the land of the free and brave, have a look at it again.
Its amazing that the zoo had no tranquillisers ready for such events and a man  trained to use them on standby even if he was a zoo hand or something.

[FL/MAYO]

Put yourself in the cops position a huge tiger is coming towards you, your choices are to use a tranquilizer(takes a couple of minutes to work), use a taser (will only work for a little while until battery dies and they have to be within 18 feet)  or use something that has worked in the past like a rifle, the cops made the right decision their safety comes first that is what they are taught from day one in the Police academy. It is a pity the tiger had to die but personnel safety comes first.

[mannix]

For all their training a gun is too easy to use, on human or animal.
Taser is the same, easy to use by meat heads paid to do a job that anyone with brains would not do.

[Puckoon]

Yeah - I got your play on words - you just seemed very skeptical in your first post.
Hope its all going well with the baby.

[FL/MAYO]

For all their training a gun is too easy to use, on human or animal.
Taser is the same, easy to use by meat heads paid to do a job that anyone with brains would not do.

Mannix, I have to ask, what would you have used in that situation? You must be used to dealing with big Siberian Tigers down Pontoon way

[mannix]

No tigers, st patrick banished them with the snakes.
It is ridiculous that  zoo animal dies because humans made bad decisions.

Sad for all involved.

[Minder]

No tigers, st patrick banished them with the snakes.
It is ridiculous that  zoo animal dies because humans made bad decisions.

Sad for all involved.

Apparentley the teenagers had catapults in their backpacks and a bottle of vodka

[Puckoon]

Not much of a defense against a loose tiger!

[thejuice]

Well whoever designed the animal closure should be shot. but if any one puts their hands between the bars in a tiger cage and gets it ripped off i cant say i feel to bad for them. in you put your hand under a lawnmower do you blame the lawnmower when you lose your hand, no,

zoo's should be idiot proof. it seems this one wasnt. kinda reminds me of the Darwin awards, if anyone ever read those books, i think these kids belong in there

[Puckoon]

Watched a national geographic on this incident last night -some very interesting points made that answer some questions and criticisms delivered here.


1. Who ever designed the enclousure should be shot -

The enclosures of wild cats have been improved through out the years - the days of cats pacing back and front from one end of a small cage to another are gone as scientific evidence showed that while allowing cats to have some degree of freedom of choice in their activities (i.e. graded levels of cages, run warrens and platforms) made for a happier athletic cat that would survive longer in the wild.

2. The zoo could have anaesthetised the tiger instead of killing it -

The national association of zoos and aquariums insists that each zoo practises an escape scenario of all dangerous animals 4 times a year to ensure a calm and practical approach in the event. Realistically, the chance of drugging the animal (with a dart that takes 5-10 minutes for full effect) that had already taken one life, was just not a practical scenario. The on site vet made the call that the animal needed to be taken down immediately to prevent further injury/ loss of life. The cat was actually in too close a proximity to the injured brother for the marksmen to take a shot, and so they waited a few seconds until the cat got up and began to approach them.

[J70]

I watched it as well, and the point about the effect of improved health, mental and physical, of animals in zoos since zoos embraced the idea of enrichment was one I hadn't thought of i.e. moats, walls and so on that were adequate to safely enclose animals in the past when they were basically unfit basket cases may not necessarily be up to the task in this day and age. The police clearly had little option but to shoot the cat either. I've been involved in tranquilizing large animals like deer in the past, and it does take a few minutes to bring them down after the vet shoots the dart into them.

They skirted the issue of what those lads were doing though (for understandable reasons) but the zoo director and staff and the interviewed experts were adamant that something had to have set the tiger in motion to make a jump like that and go after them.