That is so true...no matter what wrongs those stupid, drunk kids did, the confinement for the tiger/s should have been adequate enough to keep any one of them from escaping. That is where the fault of the zoo will come into play, rather than the fault of the kids. The families of these kids will sue, and they will get away with what caused the killing of their friend, and of the tiger. I hope their conscience will drive them nuts the rest of their lives because they are ultimately responsible for the deaths.
There was an independent review done in 1999 - the chron referenced it in an earlier article - http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/budanalyst/zoo/1_1animalmanagement.pdf I have not seen any documented facts - in either this report or mtg minutes, that any agency or individual ever pointed out a deficiency in the tiger exhibit - so I can’t yet feel compelled to point a “you should have known” finger at the SF zoo...just my humble opinion of course...