Report finds missteps in S.F. Zoo tiger attacks
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
The San Francisco Zoo made a number of key mistakes in responding to the Christmas Day tiger attack, but still did an ‘impressive’ job, according to excerpts of a report released this week.
Among other things, the report by the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums criticized a security supervisor for doubting two brothers who reported a tiger was loose because they were believed to be drunk.
The supervisor assumed there had been a fight and ‘does not believe that a big cat is out because of the erratic and belligerent behavior of the two guests,’ the report said.At the time, the 250-pound Siberian tiger named Tatiana already had killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and was roaming the zoo grounds. Minutes later, it attacked the brothers, who were kept outside the cafe by a manager who lacked a zoo radio and didn’t know a tiger had escaped, the report said.The report found that because of the Christmas holiday, most of the zoo’s workers had been sent home early, leaving too few staffers on hand at the time. AP
The full report, called the most detailed account of the incident, is being kept confidential by the zoo and the AZA, but a spokesman told the AP the excerpts accurately reflected the full report.
Read the full story here.
--Tony Barboza
Photo: Noah Berger / AP
