January 6, 2008
To Taunt a Tiger
New information was realeased today in the San Francisco tiger attack. First, a few objects were found in the enclosure after the attacks which hadn't been there before the escape:
A source close to the investigation said the rock found in the habitat measured 9 inches, and a tree branch and pine cones were found that came from trees that were not near the tiger's enclosure.
Zoo employees did not see the items in the enclosure before the tiger escaped, the source said.
Second, the statement of a witness' who says she saw four boys tormenting the big cats has been made public:
Jennifer Miller, who was at the zoo with her husband and two children that ill-fated Christmas afternoon, said she saw four young men at the big-cat grottos - and three of them were teasing the lions a short time before the tiger's bloody rampage that killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr.
"The boys, especially the older one, were roaring at them. He was taunting them," the San Francisco woman said. "They were trying to get that lion's attention. ... The lion was bristling, so I just said, 'Come on, let's get out of here' because my kids were disturbed by it."
If you click through to the article, you'll not that Miller called after reading news reports to ensure the zoo knew that she saw four boys and not three doing the taunting. Sounds like a reliable, persistent witness to me.
Comments
Darwinian biology. This was natural selection in action. Cull the herd of the weak and in this case the stupid.
I feel sorry for the strong and smart tiger.