SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - When patrons are allowed back into the San Francisco Zoo today, amid allegations of poor emergency response to a deadly tiger attack, at least one security measure that could have improved the response to the Christmas Day incident will be in place.

According to zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo, a portable speaker system will alert zoogoers if an animal escapes its enclosure, as Tatiana the Siberian tiger did on Dec. 25, fatally mauling 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and attacking his friends, Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal.

Several other safety measures are planned that could have prevented the attack, Mollinedo said. He added at a news conference Wednesday that he “didn’t know” why those safety measures weren’t already in place.

The attorney for the two brothers, celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, said his clients pleaded with zoo workers to call police and were ignored and even brushed off as mentally unstable despite one of the brothers being covered in blood. When a worker inside the Terrace Café finally called 911 at 5:07 p.m., Sousa had already been lying outside the big cat enclosure losing blood from his neck.

“He was lying there bleeding to death for 45 minutes before he got attention,” Geragos told The Examiner. “During that period of time my clients were trying to get to safety and warn others that the tiger was loose. The older brother would not have been attacked if zoo security had done their job.”

Mollinedo, however, praised his staff, saying “some of our staff did heroic things” by putting their “lives on the line.” He wouldn’t say specifically what the heroic actions were.

Zoo patrons will also find new signage that reminds visitors that the animals at the zoo are wild and “PLEASE don’t tap on glass, throw anything into exhibits, make excessive noise, tease or call out to them.”

When asked, Mollinedo, said he refused to speculate as to why the tiger attacked.

“All I know is that something happened to provoke that tiger to leap out of that exhibit,” he said. An increase in the moat wall is one of the improvements planned for the enclosure.

Geragos said the reaction by the zoo is “unbelievable,” and that his clients had been portrayed in the media as having been responsible for the tiger escaping an inadequate enclosure.

“My clients aren’t under investigation; it’s the zoo that’s under criminal investigation,” Geragos said.

Also Wednesday, police spokesman Sgt. Steve Mannina said that investigators found an empty vodka bottle on the front seat of the car the trio drove to the zoo.

“They did find the bottle, but what that signifies or how that plays into this will be known later,” he said.

bbegin@examiner.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Comments from Examiner Readers

5:35 PM MST on Fri., Mar. 14, 2008 re: "Commission: Zoo should switch focus"

Examiner Reader said:
�Improvements in animal exhibits will drive attendance up (and therefore zoo revenue) more than any other project,� according to the report. -- Well duh!! I don't believe anyone from the zoo has ever said the exhibits are perfect and do not need improvement. Many of the exhibits were built in the late 30's and early 40's and are in dire need of improvement. The big question is -- Where is the money going to come from?!! The City will need to pony up a boatload of money to make all the improvements needed. I don't see that happening anytime soon. In the meantime, the SFZS is doing a great job with the pittance they are getting from the City.

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8:07 AM MST on Fri., Mar. 14, 2008 re: "Commission: Zoo should switch focus"

Enough! said:
What are Bolbol's credentials? She speaks (and speaks and speaks and speaks - Ms. Limelight) like an authority which obviously she is NOT! Enough already! What is her agenda?

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8:40 AM MST on Thu., Mar. 13, 2008 re: "Commission: Zoo should switch focus"

Examiner Reader said:
The Animal Activists always have an anti-zoo sentiment and will use any incident to take away the one we have in San Francisco . The money it would take to redesign the zoo into a rehab center, plus hiring of expert rehab specialists, would be better off spent improving our zoo. The San Francisco zoo is a lovely place to visit and many citizens to not want to lose it. Let's just make it better.

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3:22 AM MST on Thu., Mar. 13, 2008 re: "Commission: Zoo should switch focus"

Time To Hold Zoo Accountable said:
The Zoo wasted tens of millions of dollars on fancy entrance, conference centers, cafes, concessions and most of the animals are left in cramped, old exhibits. It's time to take care of the animals - good for those who are trying to help the animals - they need all the help they can get. The zoo rep needs to spend a few weeks in the hippo exhibit (yes, that means eating and defecating in the same area) and see how it feels.

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1:27 PM MST on Sun., Feb. 10, 2008 re: "Zoo experts to analyze safety measures"

Enough! said:
That's enough already from mouthy "critic" Deniz Bolbol! How many "yes" votes?

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11:11 PM MST on Sat., Jan. 5, 2008 re: "S.F. Zoo to reopen with new security measure in place"

Examiner Reader said:
IF these two drunken idiots who provoted the tiger sue the zoo THEN I think the family of the boy who was killed needs to then sue them for that money, be rewarded every penny of it and then take that money and donate it to the zoo to help rebuild animal habitats that are updated and safer.

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5:25 PM MST on Thu., Jan. 3, 2008 re: "S.F. Zoo to reopen with new security measure in place"

Knot2brite said:
I think maybe the zoo should keep current Director Manuel Mollinedo and fire the offensive co-ordinator!

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12:35 PM MST on Thu., Jan. 3, 2008 re: "S.F. Zoo to reopen with new security measure in place"

Juan Pescadino said:
"If zoo security ain't worth a dime, Mollinedo should do time." (from previous Examiner Reader comment). Hey, I like that. It makes sense to go after the money maker. I think I'm gonna wait til we find out more about the zoo before I go back with my kids. Too much risk.

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11:51 AM MST on Thu., Jan. 3, 2008 re: "S.F. Zoo to reopen with new security measure in place"

48 born in sf, kids in Zoo Camp all week prior, said:
Okay so thanks to the drunk idiots, the zoo ( us ) are going to pay for the new rules in many ways not just money... next time some fool idiots yell at the WILD ANIMALS they should be behind bars ( they endanger our lives everyday...

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10:30 AM MST on Thu., Jan. 3, 2008 re: "S.F. Zoo to reopen with new security measure in place"

Examiner Reader said:
Close the zoo and put Mollinedo behind bars. The zoo and its director run an operation that is unsafe for the four legged inhabitants as well as the two legged ones who come to view them. "If zoo security ain't worth a dime, Mollinedo should do time."

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