Another question crossed my desk yesterday, what were three guys of that age doing at the zoo on Christmas day? Isn’t that unusual–wouldn’t they be hanging out with their buddies or people of their own age group?

Perhaps they were wildlife enthusiasts–but I doubt it.

Zoos across the nation are being asked about their safety practices and are reassuring the public. However, accidents do happen and so drills and training are essential.

The other issue that keeps getting raised is that regarding the zoo employee actions. First, only trained personnel can handle fire arms and tranquilizers. Second, tranquilizers do not work fast enough to safely contain a predator when there is danger to humans or other animals.

I am a bit shocked that it looks like the Security department delayed entry to the municipal rescue agencies–did they not have a mutual aid agreement in place? Were the rest of the non-animal employees left out of the disaster planning review drills?

Yes, there is only speculation over the taunting of the Siberian tiger , however the animal would have needed high motivation to climb out of her enclosure.

I get sick of visitor behavior at animal parks and zoos–maybe Tatiana will be the new poster tiger for “Don’t Disturb the Animals.”

BTW: Did anyone get their mitts on the Dhaliwal or Sousa cell phones to see if anyone was video taping or snapping pictures?

In Walker’s Mammals of the World, Fifth Edition, the citation in Volume II on page 1209 says, “It (tiger species) has been reported to cover up to 10 meters in a horizontal leap.”

Based on these citations, it would have been completely feasible for Tatiana, the San Francisco Zoo’s Siberian tiger to have jumped out of her enclosure.

Also, I found this citation but have no idea who the person is who has quoted the distances. Still looking for sources I can verify. According to Maxine Anbabell, there have been instances recorded of tigers leaping widths of as much as twenty feet, with one tiger seen to leap thirty feet.

How can that happen? Easy, same way the Lion House was a safety hazard–the place is old.

One of the jokes that used to be made at one private zoo and animal acting facility I worked for was that if you distracted the inspector enough, you could get away with most anything.

Sometimes they didn’t really know the standards, either. Unless you measured you wouldn’t know.

Reminds me of those lions who had to be locked up when the dirt flowed down to one end of the enclosure–just enough motivation and they would have got out.

Tatiana had the motivation and did.

So, I am guessing it really was a lucky leap–and can’t wait to hear the statements from the two hospitalized victims.

SF Zoo Tiger Grotto Wall Fails to Meet Stated Recommendations

Which brings me to the question, who will be liable if that is the case? Would teasing a member of an endangered species to the point of retaliation that results in the death of the tiger (and the alleged instigator) put the liablity outside of the zoo and city of San Francisco?

*Who were the keepers assigned to the string that included the Lion House/Tiger Grotto?
*Was the zoo on minimal staff scheduling due to the holiday?
*What time were the cats scheduled to come in and where were the keepers at the time of the incident?

There is a lot of focus on the statement that the door was closed and that could not have been the reason the cat got out but that is often how animals do escape…human error.

Marcan, who has trained hundreds of tigers for more than half a century, said he was not surprised when he heard about the attack.

“It’s a zoo tiger,” he said. “Zoo tigers are different from circus tigers. A circus tiger is like a college graduate. A zoo tiger is like a dummy, an illiterate.”

What Marcan is referring to is how an animal changes once it is trained to think. Many zoos have some form of animal training for husbandry and mental occupation but animal actors and other animal performers usually travel and are exposed to a variety of environments and training experiences.

This enrichment and mental stimulation changes the animal. It does not mean the animal is not a predator–they still remain deadly. However, when you work with animals you discern the differences.

You can read the whole article here. Most animal attacks are from human error so it will be interesting to see what the final verdict on the San Francisco tiger attack ends up being.

On a more familiar level, pets that have been socialized and trained are better citizens than a pet that has been kept outside in a yard all of its life. There are some pit bull dogs that are good citizens and others that aren’t–such as those pit bulls who just attacked and killed a women in Barstow.

Zoos that meet the mandatory accreditation standards are required to maintain safety and emergency protocols that go beyond federal, state or local requirements. San Francisco Zoo is accredited by the AZA through 2011.

Why were the police called?
This is best answered by zoo personnel but in crisis situations there are usually specific protocols that are followed. In crisis situations, memorandums of understanding usually exist between multiple agencies which allows them to come in quickly. Police and fire are usually dispatched to crisis situations.

Police would provide additional backup and human management and they are astute in the use of fire arms. Usually there is a crisis management team on site. The team is usually zoo keepers and zoo animal management personnel. Contingency plans and mitigation are part of the accreditation process for zoos. However, I am not familiar with the current SF Zoo’s practices of team training or protocols.

If you are looking for stats related to zoos the best source is the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.

What about my consultaiton at the SF Zoo?
This took place in 1996 when I was invited to visit by the curator. As a favor, I traveled up to the zoo to assess Tony the tiger (Tatiana’s mate). The assessment/recommendations were published in the Journal of the American Association of Zoo Keepers in May of 1996.

Could the animal morph into a super tiger and leap over the moat and enclosure walls?
To my knowledge this hasn’t happened before, however adrenelin and other circumstances could contribute to an unsual escape, but there is probably a more mundane explanation.

Links of interest:

AP list of animal attacks

Selection of tiger incidents

According to Big Cat Rescue the U.S. (up through 2006) has 79% of ALL captive cat incidents. Since there is no reporting agency that keeps such records the actual numbers are unknown.

In a captive environment, predators will exhibit hardwired behavior, especially at feeding time or under stress conditions. Aggression is common in escaped captive wildife.

Although each situation is different, unfamiliar surroundings put an animal on alert and into attack mode. For the animals, survival of the fittest often translates into attack first–investigate later.

Just how Tatiana escaped has not been revealed yet. The refurbished exhibit was only reopened on September 7, 2007 so it will be interesting to see what the investigation reveals.

Wild animal escapes may be due to equipment failure, design flaws, human error, or damage to an exhibit, such as in the case of disasters.

My guess it that it is one of the first three. Since the exhibit has only been open again for a short time it is hard to say whether or not it was human error or exhibit issues or failure. Here is the link to my comments and other news info on the San Francisco’s Zoo tiger attack in 2006.

Above: Chart of estimated wild cat attacks annually courtesy of Big Cat Rescue. Click to enlarge.

San Francisco Lion House Reopens as Feline Dining Area

Photos taken during rabbit feeding in San Francisco Zoo’s Old Lion House

Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Fatalities 2001-2006