Police: Tiger wasn't intentionally let out

ok ok yea the SF zoo may of had there gate 4 ft shorter than standards required but no one told those three 2 b idiots and taunt a tiger are u serious ummmmmmm did u not know these creatures hunt for a livin duh it is not the tigers fault that wat they were born to do live hunt n eat so there is no reason for anyone 2 b mad at the tigers nothin woulda ever happened if those three wouda of never did wat they did

its humans that belong in cages!

I am sorry to hear anyone lie about something like a tiger attack because they were afraid the animals would be euthanized my God what is wrong with you. Animals belong in the wild not in some facility that isnt up to code for something like this to happen. How would you feel if that was your child? I hope that the law and this boys family lets you feel the pain that that young man did. The terror Im sure he is still reliving in his mind. How could you be so cold as to try and cover this up? God put creatures in the woods not in some cage not equipped to deal with them.

She knew exactly WHO she was going after, she hunted these exact tormentors down all over the zoo grounds for more than 30 minutes, she knew who taunted her. Get real. I dont feel sorry for these dimwitted kids at all. And Tatiana didnt deserve to live in a crappy cage/enclosure either.

They KILLED Tatiana themselves and their friends, yes it matters what they did, had they NOT DID what THEY DID, nobody would have died! They are the ones who deserve to be imprisoned!

I think the zoo has a lot at fault here. The zoo, especially the zoo director, is responsible for its animals and the public's safety. I've only been to SF ZOO once, and I think its in deplorable condition. The enclosures are small and cramped, and many exotic tropical animals that have to tolerate foggy and cold, depressing weather. The animals just look very sad and unhappy there. I say shut the zoo down and move the animals to better zoos. As for the Dhaliwal brothers, their friend, and the tiger, NONE of them actually deserved to be hurt or killed. What could happen when there is no wall between them and a tiger? Haven't you watched animal planet? Even when the wildlife scientists walk near wild animals they risk being attacked. You don't have to provoke an animal to be in danger. And with the wall under it's recommended height, everyone was at risk all along.

If the reports we have seen is that the tiger was setting by one of the young men when the police came apon the animal tells you something about the animal. It was not looking for food nor did it feel it had to defend itself at that time. Animals in general attack for food, defend themself, or defend their young. Animals will act out if they are spooked by something that they are not use to will cause them to try to defend themself. We may never know the real truth of what happened. But say one of the young men did scale the outer fence and started yelling at the tiger. NO ONE climbs the fence in the eyes of the tiger nor starts yelling at it. Hence, the tiger may have believed it was under threat of harm and attack. The continued attack may have taken place because of the young men trying to save their friend who made a stupid error. Their yelling or even coming to the aid of their friend would have caused the animal to continue to protect itself, as it believed it needed to.

It wouldn't matter what the victims did or did not do if there wasn't a legal issue at hand. Why has the tiger incident become a legal issue?

Does it really matter what the the boys did someone died!

I am so mad about this situation! If it can be proven that the kids in any way taunted/tortured that tiger, then they must not get rewarded a financial windfall won by a big-name lawyer(ambulance chaser). In fact, not only should the boys gain nothing positive as a result of cruel illegal actions, but they should be held accountable, and prosecuted for the death of an endangered species! If the zoo was at fault for housing the tiger in an enclosure that was an accident waiting to happen, then I support the closing of the zoo until all enclosures are brought up to code; but in no way should the zoo or the city of San Francisco be required to pay the boys anything other than perhaps hospital costs. I do not believe that the zoo should be held liable for the safety of visitors who break the rules and knowingly put themselves at risk by stupid/reckless behavior. Sling-shots were found in the pockets of both of the surviving boys; the tiger was just defending herself! Now she is dead.

Note to parents: Teach your kids not to screw with the animals.

So the wall's been too short for 70 years and now it's a problem? I guess the tiger didn't attempt to escape before and just decided Christmas was a good day to get out? It's also nice that the two surviving victims go hire a big-name lawyer before they even bother talking to the media or the Sousa family. Guess they want their story straight before they sue......

This incident will undoubtedly spike zoo attendance, in the short-term anyway. Maybe they should build a permanent feature where drunken, disrespectful young men are fed to tigers on a daily basis..god knows there is no shortage of them.

Regardless if the youths were taunting the tiger, the fact remains that the wall is not high enough. Next time it could be a two-year-old simply waving at a tiger.

A sad affair.....

Pictures of Tatiana circulating right now show her gazing up at the wall - she had clearly contemplated it before. Who knows - maybe the brothers had just had rare steak or a burger for lunch with traces of blood still on their sleeves or face! Maybe the smell from the nearby grill was just too irresistible. Remember - the tiger goes for the tastiest morsel in sight and has senses far more acute than any human.

These tiger stories are grrrrrrrreat. Keep 'em coming. My condolences to the family.......of the tiger.

Close the zoo Now. They can't take care of the animals or the people and are clearly incompetent.

We won't know the truth because the two brothers IF they did taunt the tiger would never admit it now that they can make big $$ from a lawsuit. I have to laugh at people who are worried about the safety of a zoo. How many people have been mauled at the Zoo,EVER? ANd how many people are run over in SF by cars? How many die in traffic accidents? How many get killed by guns? Life isn't safe. Don't close a zoo because of one death.

Just because there is no evidence the boys were taunting the Tiger doesn't mean it didn't happen. There were no video cameras to catch the taunting remember? The two boys were hostile to police when questioned about this incident and wouldn't even identify their dead friend. Sounds like a bunch of guilty thugs to me. Bet their bad parents will also try to gain some money off of this. How many of us are tired of living with crime and fear thugs like these inflict on the rest of us. Take back our streets.

The zoo should remain closed. It has always been run incompetently and has never been a safe place for visitors. How many more innocent people have to die or become maimed to prove the point? How many more innocent animals have to be victimized by the mismanagement.

Want to know the real reason .....they were throwing NACHOS at the tiger........wait until that comes out....why are we coddling these younger adults? I hope the D.A. steps up charges these two clowns for some kind of manslaughter..no wonder they are not talking I wouldnt either if some thing I participated in got someone killed....its called conspiracy 182pc two or more working together....S.F.P.D. ORO EN PAZ ...FIERRO IN GUERRA

Here's news. Another tiger did jump the mote in the San Francisco zoo in the 1960's. It was a Bengal Tiger named Mike. This story was on KRON TV Ch. 4 on Friday, the 28th. They interviewed a retired zoo worker who had pictures of Mike, the Bengal Tiger. One day to their surprise there was Mike walking along the top of the mote wall, but behind the short fence. This was the same mote/enclosure that Tatiana was in. They yelled to him to get back down and he soon jumped into his enclosure again. Their solution was to put water in the mote. And the water remained until Mike (600 lbs) was no longer in the exhibit. Then the water was drained! This was to give a larger roaming area to the remaining animals. Amazing. You wonder about zoo officials and experts and how misinformed they can be. A little exertion and research about your own job can be a big help. That being said, if I was forced to decide yes or no right now, I would say the young men taunted the tiger. We shall se

It's George Bush's fault.

i agree with the comment right below mine. we are talking about a human life wait no , a little boy! "karma" wow, what a thing to say. even if the boys were hasseling the tiger it is and was unsafe. read your materials before you suggest such things such as "karma". the tiger attacked a zoo keeper as well, or was that karma cause she was speeding on her way to work? "funny huh"

Reading the comment two down from this one, there's nothing obvious about any taunting at all. The zoo director lied about it to deflect blame, and the zoo personnel lied about the signs of an intruder on the wall. You like what's going on at the zoo so much you should be the first one in when they open the gates, and the first one attacked by the next escaping jungle animal.

Who's in charge of the San Francisco Zoo, Dr. Doolittle? Or is it now more of a di(e)orama?

I've been to that zoo many times and the tigers were always docile and calm. All the animals are! obviously they were taunting her. Karma...funny huh?

"'Zoo security is not letting the [police department] in,'... Zoo officials contacted by The Examiner declined to comment, saying they were conducting their own investigation." A textbook example of privatization: no accountability.

Don't let the mayor get involved now. He'll send officers from Traval station and have them stand fixed post at the zoo until the next tiger killing....

I just heard on CNN that the zoo is going to open next week. Are they crazy or something? The place is unsafe for the visiting public. They don't even know how to make it safe. CNN said the wall was built almost 70 years ago in 1940 to hold a smaller tiger. What about the other animal cages? Are they 70 years old and made for different animals too? Gimme a break, the zoo should stay shut.

I read several articles about this incident on national news media sites and it seems a lot of them contain misinformation. Someone at the zoo is telling reporters that the young men were taunting the tiger and that a shoe and blood were found between the outer fence and the moat. They even suggested that the tiger escaped because it was able to grab on to a leg dangling from the moat fence and pull itself up and out. What lies!!!! Eventually, the cops had to correct the false information. They freely admit THERE WAS NO SUCH EVIDENCE. I agree with the people that want Mollinedo to face criminal charges. He failed to protect the public and he lied about the investigation. This man should be dismissed immediately and charged with a crime. And yes, the zoo should be closed permanently.

The Sousa family will and should sue the zoo, the inspection organization and the director for the death of their son. The zoo was entirely at fault for the tiger's escape. It did not even provide minimal safety precautions. It is surprising that the tiger had not escaped before. I too am concerned that there are other points of potential failure in the zoo's security system waiting to be exposed by another tragedy. San Franciscans should insist that the zoo be closed immediately and forever before another victim dies from incompetence at the facility.

The zoo director needs to be charged with negligence and do some time in jail. The boys paid their money to get in the zoo, if they made faces at the tiger they should be allowed to, they paid their money. The fence needs to be tall enough to keep them animals inside it but the boys paid their money fair and square they shouldn't be blamed for anything.

Whether they where taunting her or not the wall was not tall enough. The tiger should not have been able to get out for ANY reason.

The brothers may not be model citizens, but there is still no evidence that they were taunting the tiger. Even if they were, the enclosure was completely insufficient to contain the cat. Think about it...a six foot basketball player can jump and easily grab a hoop at 10 feet. This Siberian was well over 8 feet tall on her hind legs, more powerful than 4 or more humans and easily capable of reaching well over the top of a 12'6" wall. The real problem is with the zoo and its director,Mr. Mollinedo. He didn't even know the height of the wall around the Tiger cage! What other safety precautions and/or violations are waiting for another monstrous animal to exploit to free itself? Challenge Mollinedo with those questions, leave the victims and the Tiger out of the blame game.

To I WAS THERE: if you have information, I hope you have no fear and have given or will give your information to the authorities. My sympathies to you: it must have been horrible just being there.

Does one of these people in the news item qualify for a darwin award? Aren't you tempting your fate when you dangle part of your body over a tiger cage? the sad thing is the one who died prob isn't this individual. Which means reporters should follow the person in question for a future destiny that will surely make the darwin awards and capture our imagination as media consumers and readers!

Want to know the real reason .....they were throwing NACHOS at the tiger........wait until that comes out....why are we coddling these younger adults? I hope the D.A. steps up charges these two clowns for some kind of manslaughter..no wonder they are not talking I wouldnt either if some thing I participated in something that got someone killed....its called conspiracy 182pc two or more working together....S.F.P.D. ORO EN PAZ ...FIERRO IN GUERRA

From what what I am hearing from news reports the 2 survivors in SF General have been in trouble with the law before. Police have been called numerous times to their home. T

It's a bad situation all around. But I haven't seen any objective evidence or other report that the young men were taunting the tiger. But regardless of whether they were or not, the tigers' enclosure should have been adequate to contain an enraged tiger, and prevent its escape. That certainly doesn't seem to have been the case. I did read another account of a tiger attempting to attack another woman holding a young child, at the same exhibit, in 1996. Tigers are entirely unpredictable in their behavior. It sounds like the zoo is at fault for creating an attractive nuisance and failing to adequately manage it, with fatal consequence.

Tiger as agent of karma.

Why is no one addressing the fact that theses three idiots are the reason a beautiful tiger was shot and killed. Why is everyone afraid to state the obvious...the Tiger was being taunted. A moron could figure that out. I am just sorry she didn't get all three of them. SHE is the victim here....NOT THE THREE IDIOTS.

I wish my sympathy would be higher for the "hero", if those boys didn't provoke the tiger in the first place.

The two survivors aren't talking and there are no other witnesses. How could anyone know whether the teen was a hero or not?

PLEASE take down that headline. That teen died because of bad judgement, not because he was some hero. Those boys were heckling a tiger!!! Who in their right mind does that! Don't change the story. I'm sorry that someone died, but for every action there is a reaction. That tiger did what she felt she needed to do. The boys were taunting her, they assumed since she was enclosed she couldn't reach them. And then look what happened. Now a tiger and a kid died.

As I grew up in San Jose, the SF Zoo was a wonderful place to visit. I went as a child and grew into sharing it with my family. Though I havent been there in more than a decade, The Tiger exibit and the feeding building of the big cats, never gave me thought about them escaping. I wonder since it has been so long if it has changed since I last visited, if so I would assume for the better, so as a love of the SF Zoo, I, too am shocked at this. My thoughts and prayers go to the families as well as the employees, owners and the city of SF. I was wondering about other patrons, both during that time, but also during the day when the young men were at the park. Did they see so called bad "zoo behavior" on the parts of these guys during the day? Young people convice or come up w/ ideas to do things they would never do alone. Had anyone seen bad conduct on their part througout their visit? Lori, Mcalester, OK

The Dhaliwal brothers are no angels. I used to live near them and thought they were a pair of punks. RIP Carlos, I just hope you guys weren't responsible for the tiger getting out.

Isn't it feeding chute?

Get your info right - only 1 tiger got out, the other 3 were never out and in the pen the entire time. Read other papers to get correct info before poisting yours.