NEWS: A Christmas Day Tiger Mauling at the San Francisco Zoo

CULTURE: A Christmas Day Tiger Mauling at the San Francisco Zoo

It wasn't a happy Christmas scene at the San Francisco Zoo when staff was forced to close the doors after Tatiana the Siberian tiger escaped from her pen, killed a patron and mauled two others.

I'm noticing a pattern here. Psychiatrists say that when we get hysterical, it's historical. Tatiana has some past trauma involving the Christmas season or perhaps she hates Christmas carols. Has anyone checked into whether the zoo pumps music throughout the grounds? I know that Paul McCartney's jingle, "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime," could easily drive me to maul someone.

Big cat? My sister's diabetic, fat tabby is a big cat. This is a goddamn 300-pound predator.







This zoo doesn't have the greatest track record as of late.

If only the zoo had consulted Wikipedia which makes it pretty clear this tiger laughs at your 15-foot moat and 20-foot high walls.

(I know this claims they can only jump 16 feet but what's another 4?) Oh and just for fun -- check this out.

The most unfortunately almost funny part of this (to me) is that Tatiana mauled one of her victims at the Terrace Café. After this endangered animal escaped her man-made confines she headed 300 yards away for… a coffee?

My heart goes out to the victims and I wouldn't be laughing if it was me but I just love the visual. You're having a cappuccino and a muffin and look behind you! Shit! It's too late. You're being mauled by a tiger.



The fatally mauled victim (who was killed closer to Tatiana's habitat) is yet to be identified.

Sad. And then the inevitable happened.

I'm not a huge, death penalty, eye-for-an-eye type person. I realize there is no way for local police to stop a tiger using a soothing voice or a gentle touch. Why does it have to be killed? Aren't there tranquilizer darts? Tiger whisperers? Something? The Siberian Tiger is an endangered species and Tatiana was brought to the zoo to mate with a male tiger -- you know to try to protect the species. And now she's dead? She was just acting like any tiger would who was passing by a café filled with delicious humans.



The investigation is ongoing. We'll see if the zoo will be once again found responsible for the tiger escape. There are no answers on whether the guys were taunting the tiger either. For now, maybe move that Terrace Café? It's awfully close to the animals.

Gee... It was still inside the zoo and they didn't tranquilize it? How did police officers get there before the trained zoo workers? Yes the tiger attacked and killed people, but like SleepyLady said, it was just acting like any tiger would that escaped from a cage that we put it in. They need to be better prepared for an incident like this.

Either that or we should stop trying to put dangerous wild animals in close contact with people.

Yeah, kill an animal for acting like it's expected to, that's super cool. GOOOO HUMANITY.

Yeah, that's ridiculous that they would cut it so close with their enclosures, and that the zoo personnel weren't able to do anything before the officers got their. What the hell? Maybe some zoo officials should have been put down instead of the tiger.

The boy and I just saw this on TV when we were eating lunch today. I finally said "Ok...I get it...even though it is legal in Ohio, I should NOT have a tiger as a pet." (Everytime I see one on TV I tend to say "oooo...I want a big kitty...") I am really interested in how exactly she got out of that cage. I'm kind of waiting for it to come out that someone accidentally left a gate open.

As sad as it is, shooting her was probably the fastest, most appropriate way to respond. She could have harmed more people in a short amount of time. I've never seen a zookeeper walking around with tranquilizer darts, but I have seen security gaurds with guns.

The SNL Landshark bit immediately came to mind when i read that. As insensitive as it is, and i feel bad for the guy, but that's just what i envisioned it as.

It's not like we don't know what Tigers do in the wild. They kill, effectively. Being fed in captivity cannot be the same as what they naturally do. I won't lie, i go to the zoo all the time to see them, but it still kind of makes me wonder how bored these animals are in captivity.

While I am very sad this tiger had to die, she was only doing what tigers do, I'm not going to fault the police officers for shooting her. I somehow doubt every police officer is armed with the latest in tiger tranquilizing technology just in the off chance this happens (although judging by this tiger's track record, it doesn't seem this was an off chance...)

tatianas fur would make a nice pimp hat and coat .

Wow.
Mental note: Always carry ID at the zoo. Avoid the 'Tiger Food' monkier.

I was at the gym today and I saw the scrolling CNN story thingy on one of the TVs saying "HAPPENING NOW: TIGER ATTACK!" and I thought it was some kind of Boxing Day humor that I didn't understand, an inside joke perhaps, almost as funny as a man in a sweater vest and a santa hat, dumping splenda into his latte and seeing a big scary kitty coming at him.

I think you're right about the Zoo holding the primary blame here, even if nobody left the gate open. They shouldn't have animal species they don't have space for, and captive tigers need A LOT of space to be anything like happy. I think zoos are important these days, because thinking the monkeys are cute is the closest some NASCAR fans will ever come to environmentalism, and every little bit counts. But we have enough zoological knowledge to keep animals responsibly, and I don't think there are any good excuses why the SF Zoo didn't amend or expand the enclosure when it was deemed unacceptable. They could have shipped both male and female tigers out to a larger zoo for breeding.

If the cop or whoever hadn't shot her on site, they would have put her down later, I bet, since that's what people do.

RIP

This absolutely pisses me off and completely disgusts me. I am completely against animals in captivity for mere human amusement and I am angered and heartbroken that her own life was taken by ignorant humans.

Oh, and let's not forget the Siberian tiger at a zoo in China who was decapitated and skinned last week by poachers as well as the three other Siberian tigers who suffered a slow and painful death by starvation at the hands of humans at the very same zoo.

What a way to save an endagered species....

couldn't have said it better myself

It's great and all that they have the "Happy Tiger Hook-Up Program" there to help the species survive but personally I wouldnt be able to procreate in the presence of creepy zookeepers with rubber gloves. Oh well. Poor tiger. Poor humans. Poor everything. The whole thing is just plain sad.

When a big predatory animal learns how easy it is to maul or kill humans, only tragedy can come of it. But poor kitty.

I did not even know some zoo's opened on christmas

Boy, that guy must have done somethin' real bad if karma's going to get him mauled by a tiger in the zoo coffee shop. Hurrah for karma!

Am I the only one here that thinks the writer of this article is an apathetic piece of garbage?

Quote:

"The most unfortunately almost funny part of this (to me) is that Tatiana mauled one of her victims at the Terrace Café. After this endangered animal escaped her man-made confines she headed 300 yards away for… a coffee?"

Almost funny... yeah it's really "almost funny" that you're at a Zoo, and you get viciously mauled by a tiger. Hilarious. That's almost a knee-slapper, SG writer. Bra-vo. Almost.

Quote:

"I'm not a huge, death penalty, eye-for-an-eye type person. I realize there is no way for local police to stop a tiger using a soothing voice or a gentle touch. Why does it have to be killed? Aren't there tranquilizer darts? Tiger whisperers? Something? The Siberian Tiger is an endangered species and Tatiana was brought to the zoo to mate with a male tiger -- you know to try to protect the species. And now she's dead? She was just acting like any tiger would who was passing by a café filled with delicious humans."

Granted, I am no fan of Zoos. But do you mean to tell me, that when 300+ lbs of Predator wants to kill you, you'd reach for not a high powered rifle, or a pistol, but ........ a tranquilizer gun? The police acted the way they were trained, to respond to a lethal threat with lethal force. A taser meant for a human wouldn't do a damn thing to a big cat. She was just acting like any tiger eh? Well you're probably right on that. But Species Conservation should be the least of your concerns when a 300lb predator is roving around killing people.

Try explaining to a familiy that while the tranquilizer dart had not yet worked it's magic, the tiger still had enough strength to kill their loved one. That's much less an issue with hot lead jacketed with copper. It sucks that it had to end this way, but it's also unfortunate it took place to begin with.

Speaking as someone who works with exotic animals for a living, this story does not surprise me. There is so much red tape in the zoo/animal industry and I can see how this event happened the way it did...

A friend of mine was locked in a cage with a leopard during feeding at the big cats house. The leopard learned the feeding routine AND quarantine method that the zookeepers practiced every day. The jaguar was placed in an isolation room while the keepers placed the food inside the exhibit. The cats were then re-released back into their exhibit and the "hiding" of the food was to enhance foraging skills and to keep the cats honed to their natural hunting skills used in the wild and to keep them from being all out bored!

This particular jaguar had tricked my friend last minute when he closed the isolation room during feeding and found himself in the exhibit face to face with the cat standing at the front of the doorway. No one was around and he had no means to call for help. He knew this cat and managed to get it back into the isolation room and back to safety. But this shit happens all the time....

Well.....the tiger was loose and on the attack. I think they did what was necessary.
A human was killed and the others were badly injured. Poor tiger.....

I can guarantee you would be whistling a different tune had it been someone you knew.

I live in the SF Sunset. We've been cracking jokes about this for the past 24 hours. These incidents are tragic, but completely inevitable. I was.. kinda hopping to find a giraffe on my lawn this morning.

With cell phones being what they are, it's very possible the police were on the way before the zoo staff even knew what was going on. When a tiger is mauling people, it's doubtful the police have time to go find a tranqulizer gun that'll work on a tiger.

Someday people will realize that these creatures do not belong in cities.

Um..yeah. If I was a police officer, and a 300 pound predator that had just attacked 3 people turned toward me, I would probably shoot it too.

I don't know why, maybe because I want to live?