Zoo could face charges, fines in tiger attack

msnbc ^ | Dec. 28, 2007 | a.p.

[repinwi]

SAN FRANCISCO - The deadly tiger escape at the San Francisco Zoo could prove to be a costly blow to an institution that has come under fire repeatedly in just the past few years over the deaths of two elephants and the mauling of a zookeeper.

[repinwi]

It's just a matter of time and this zoo will be closed down because of all the lawsuits.

[Mears]

Soon there will be nothing recreational left becaause of lawsuits.

When the high diving boards disappeared from public pools I knew the end was in sight.

[repinwi]

You’re right. Now that I think about it merry-go-rounds, slides and swings have all but disappeared too.

[PAR35]

When the high diving boards disappeared from public pools I knew the end was in sight.

For me, it was when the swingsets disappeared from the schools.

[Mears]

“For me, it was when the swingsets disappeared from the schools.”

---

Yep,that too ! Sad,isn’t it?

[bill1952]

When is the last time that you saw a see saw?

[PAR35]

I wasn’t sorry to see the see-saws go, however. Those things would hurt you.

[repinwi]

I remember those! I learned after a few times not to go on with your older sibling. They will taunt you till you cry. LOL

[Mojohemi]

I went to a zoo with my wife and children one sunny day and saw a Bengal Tiger all locked away behind bars, It looked like his head was about 100 pounds, his mouth was huge and his teeth awesome. Even today if I had it to do over again I would not do it without a 357 magnum in my hand. They are instant death. Pity the person the tiger attacked. He was scared to death and he saw death in a flash. Just call me Mr. Pass on a lot of wildlife hehind bars. Put animals like this back where Mother nature intended them to be and leave them alone, that is just my opinion. Sooner or later another one will get out by whatever means and kill someone else, animals can not unlock doors and jump over a fence like the animal would be behind. A human made this error or intended to let the beast out to kill someone.

[repinwi]

I think zoo’s should do more to protect animals from people. People are by far more dangerous.

[bill1952]

>Those things would hurt you.

Those things were great fun!
A bicycle can get you hurt pretty fast and hard.

I weary of bland, vanilla semi smooth lukewarm life, forced upon us by bland vanilla boring nanny bureaucrats.

No more Jello for me, Mom!

[colonialhk]

Yep, pissed off lesbian tiger, no question.

[ECM]

So, about those pinecones...

[eyedigress]

I recall going to a pool everyday with a tower built of riverrock and encompassing 3 boards. Each board had a different height starting at about 12ft and advancing 7ft each time. You had to swim to the tower about 20 feet out with a 15 foot depth. (That kept the bad swimmers away). A few people would do that triple dive from each board. A mini Back to School if you will.

[repinwi]

So why is personal responsibility such a third-rail topic? I suppose it’s because we’ve largely beaten Darwin at his own game, and we now have two and sometimes three generations of self-absorbed people whose parents brought them up to think they’re “special” no matter what, and nothing they can do is wrong.

[repinwi]

It's been pushed under the bush. Nothing will come of it.

According to the article. "Even if they provoked the tiger, a reasonable person would believe that the tiger could not escape. That's what you count on when you go to the zoo. You count on the idea that the animals cannot reach you."

[ByDesign]

“Put animals like this back where Mother nature intended them to be and leave them alone, that is just my opinion. “

Tatiana was born in Denver, in captivity, and was placed in SF to breed with another tiger, Tony.

Tigers are close to extinction, the zoos across the world are keeping the breed alive - if let loose they would be killed for their pelts and for Asian “cures” (they grind up and ingest various parts of the tiger’s body...you don’t want to know what parts.) Poachers have decimated the breeds.

Wikipedia says there’s about 500 Siberian tigers in the wild, for what it’s worth, not sure how many are in captivity.

A lot of the time I think zoos should be closed to the public, and the breeding programs made private, to keep the animals from the public, for both side’s safety, but funding for the programs is from people paying to see them, so zoos are a necessary evil, if we don’t want tigers going extinct.

[Mears]

I remember my kids and their rite of passage on the high board-——my grandchildren won’t have that experience but they did some rope thing into a lake in the Yellowstone area this summer. Glad I wasn’t there to see it.

Your place sounds neat-—is it still there?

[ozzymandus]

All the john edwards-style scumbag lawyers are crawling out from under their rocks to cash in. I’ve seen a few of them on the TV “news” networks already, and they make me sick.

[eyedigress]

Nah. They removed the high board and made the trip to the tower a water free one. Did I mention this tower had arches at the beginning of each board? On top of these arches were reverse nails to keep people off. (that would have gotten you an extra 8ft on the high board, before you tried the quad-lindy!)

BTW doing big ropes into the lake can be just as fun :^)