Tiger Shooting

The shooting of the Sumatran tiger that escaped the enclosure at the San Diego Wild Animal Park could be called a tragic accident, except for the fact that it seems to be part of an increasingly frequent series of such incidents. It seems that Zoological Society officials never stop apologizing for one thing or another.

It started with the beating of an elephant and went on to include the accidental deaths of two other elephants, Maya and Jean. The worst incident was the death of elephant keeper Pam Orsi, and most recently they were again embarrassed by the exposure of connections to game ranches and sport hunting of zoo-bred animals.

In light of this pattern, the death of the tiger seems less forgivable. Certainly the park officials should have been aware of the erosion risk at their fence boundary, for the nightly news was full of stories of such damage all around the county during the rainstorms.

I am not convinced that all of these “accidents” are unrelated, isolated cases. The common denominator may well be poor management of the zoo and park facilities. I agree with the animal advocacy groups that it is time for an investigation into these continual problems.

KAREN SAGE, Escondido