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Zimbabwe: Escaped Tiger Kills One, Injures Two
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The Herald (Harare)
27 December 2007
Posted to the web 28 December 2007
Harare
AFP.
SAN FRANCISCO. A SIBERIAN tiger escaped from its enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas day, killing one visitor and mauling two others before being shot dead by police, authorities said.
The attack, lamented as "tragic" by city officials, came a year after the same female tiger, named Tatiana, peeled the flesh from a zookeeper's arm during a public feeding.
Police expect to take days to clarify what happened, but it appears the 136-kilogramme tiger escaped from its enclosure at the zoo about closing time, which was 5:00 pm local time yesterday.
The zoo's tigers are kept in an "open grotto," not a cage, separated from the public area by a moat 5,5-metres wide and 6,1-metres deep and a wall taller than 20 feet, said animal care director Robert Jenkins.
"We don't know how it was able to get out," Jenkins told news reporters at the zoo.
"The tiger should not have been able to jump (out). This is the first thing we will be investigating," Jenkins added. "The animal appears to have climbed or otherwise leapt out of the exhibit."
The sun had already set as the four-year-old tiger attacked a man who happened to be near the enclosure, evidently pouncing from behind, slashing his throat and clawing his chest in a deadly blitz.
The tiger then made its way across the zoo grounds to a cafe, where it attacked two men aged 19 and 23, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Police arrived at the zoo to find Tatiana mauling one of the men at the cafe, according to Sergeant Steve Mannina.
When officers tried to save the man, the animal turned its attention to them and began moving in their direction.
"The tiger was sitting right next to the victim and as the officers approached the tiger continued the attack," Mannina told reporters. "As the officers moved in closer the tiger started coming toward the officers."
The officers shot the tiger dead as it neared them, according to Mannina.
None of the victims has been formally identified. The two injured men were taken to San Francisco General Hospital for surgery and were listed in critical but stable condition.
"The wounds are being repaired, sewn back together, and we expect them to be fine," said hospital supervising physician Eric Isaacs.
The dead man was said to have been a friend of the wounded pair. Attendance at the zoo was light on Tuesday because it was Christmas day, according to Jenkins.
Police set up a perimeter around the zoo and swept the grounds in packs to check for other victims or other loose animals, finding none. Police helicopters circled the area with searchlights as ambulances stood by.
"This is a tragic event for San Francisco," Lieutenant Ken Smith of the San Francisco Fire Department told reporters. "We pride ourselves on our city and tourists coming here to our city for all the beauty it has."
A year ago, Tatiana reached its paws through a set of bars and tore into zoo keeper Lori Komejan's arm during a regular afternoon feeding at a cage enclosure known as the Lion House in December of 2006.
Dozens of zoo visitors were watching the feeding. The Lion House was closed to the public because of that incident and only re-opened three months ago.
The California Division of Occupation Safety and Health said the zoo was responsible for the incident because Komejan was inadequately trained for the task and the cages were set up in a manner that facilitated the attack. -- AFP.
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