RIP, Tatiana

[Maureen Souza]

We were at the San Fransisco Zoo in October and I took some snaps of Tatiana pacing in the back of the enclosure.
For those of you who don't know, she was the tiger who got out and mauled 3 men, killing one of them. In my mind, I know she had to be provoked.

[Desertraptor]

Beautiful shot
Either tigers are endangered or they arent. You dont kill them for acting on their instincts.

[Cybnew]

Nice shot Maureen....You guys were at the Zoo (its just down the street from me) and didn't give me a call :'( (Just Kidding) I have a couple nice shots of Tatiana on my desktop (currently in my trunk) and I would like to post them when I get it back up. It is unfortunate that the maulings occured, but the tiger was acting on instinct...

[jsanz11]

Wasn't the tiger shot while she was attacking? I could understand the cops were trying to protect or save the people being attacked.
Either way i'm sure she was provoked. Lovely picture thanks for sharing.
-Joey

[mdrtoys]

Beautiful shot
Either tigers are endangered or they arent. You dont kill them for acting on their instincts.


From what I hear, the only people that were on site were police without tranqs and Tatiana had turned toward them and advanced....they felt threatened and did what they thought they needed to in order to survive. Whether it was or wasn't we'll never know.



Beautiful animal though

[Cybnew]

You are correct.
I feel, that as it was a zoo...trained personnel should have been on site with tranquilizers.

[CyberDyneSystems]

It's a total shame when such a magnificent beast is lost. Compound it with thier rarity, and the troubles they face in the wild now, and it's heart breaking.
My gut reaction when I first heard this was 1st anger at those that did the shooting. But upon reading the details I agree they had little to no choice in the matter.


Mixing mankind's strange society with wildlife has always been a sketchy pairing at best.
One thing we may consider is that these beasts are not really living there own lives the moment they are taken from the wild. The day she was "zoo bound" was the day she lost her lease on a free life and offered it up for the taking by Humans. A wild animal can not just be themselves in our fabricated society. Any conflict within our own man made confines means an inevitable death for the wild animal.

RIP.

[tommykjensen]

It's a total shame when such a magnificent beast is lost. Compound it with thier rarity, and the troubles they face in the wild now, and it's heart breaking.
My gut reaction when I first heard this was 1st anger at those that did the shooting. But upon reading the details I agree they had little to no choice in the matter.


I agree. It was the same in Denmark 3 years ago when a tiger got loose here. Nobody was hurt or killed but the zoo people and police felt it would have been to dangerous to use tranqulizers because the effect is not instant so that tiger got shot too. A real shame but there were no other option.

[Nighthound]

A very sad turn of events. RIP Tatiana.

NH

[Cybnew]

I cant agree more with you CDS I can understand the officers protecting themselves...but they shouldn't have had to...the zoo should have been there to stop the tiger.

[Maureen Souza]

I have some close-ups of her that are much better but since I entered one of those shots in the POTN book contest, all I had left was this shot.

[Maureen Souza]

Nice shot Maureen....You guys were at the Zoo (its just down the street from me) and didn't give me a call :

I know, I know. But we were trying to have a weekend for two;)

However, I chatted with Steve and we will be headed back up that way again before too long. We will definitely arrange a get-together with the Bay area people. Promise.:D

(We are headed to Yosemite this weekend, blizzard conditions and all. The park promised to have the roads open:D)

[Cybnew]

lol..alright! just let me know when you guys come up :)

[mkh]

Sad situation all around.

Great picture though.

[Tee Why]

Yep, something sounds fishy. My gut feeling tells me that she was taunted and reacted like any cornered tiger being harassed would do.

Sad story all around.

[steved110]

Has there been any follow up on how she got out? this story has dropped off the news radar in the UK.

IMO someone's head should be rolling....

[swjim]

Has there been any follow up on how she got out? this story has dropped off the news radar in the UK.

IMO someone's head should be rolling....

There is a lot of speculation that she was provoked, but nothing has been proven yet. It's a very sad situation.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/17/tiger.attack.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[Bbryan5]

Let's not forget a HUMAN was killed too, RIP to the victom as well............

[bonefish]

There are news stories this morning about the blood alcohol levels of the guys and one has apparently admitted climbing on top of the railing and yelling and waving.

[bonefish]

Let's not forget a HUMAN was killed too, RIP to the victom as well............


if it is true that they were drunk and taunted the tiger he was not a victim.

[texasmom]

Well, it looks like Tatiana was taunted. They had alcohol and marijuana in their system.
This poor animal was already caged and then to have someone teasing it.....It's a sad loss on both sides.

[DallasPhoto]

if it is true that they were drunk and taunted the tiger he was not a victim.


Bonefish, that was a little harsh. Yea maybe he'd been drinking, maybe even stoned, who knows, but I'm pretty sure he is still a victim regardless. Lots of people yell at the animals at the zoo, wave at em whatever. If it woulda been a small child, then I doubt you would be sayin the same thing. Yes adults should be smarter, but i'm just sayin he was still a victim.

And props to Bbryan5 for bringing this up. A humans life comes before an animals.

RIP to the VICTIM - even if he did do something stupid

[Flo]

I side with the animal..........they are wild....maybe tamed, but they do what comes "naturally" in unnatural surroundings. I know zoos have their place in the world...but I still can't go to one without feeling depressed :confused: Same goes for Giant Aquariums.its the large mammals I feel for.........

[MikeI]

Wow! I'm a little shocked by some of the comments here. Siding with the animal? Huh? Hopefully you just chose the wrong words or I'm interpreting your statement wrong....

I'm the first to say that I'm sorry the tiger died. It's sad that she lived there relatively peacefully for years, but for whatever reason, she went after the three young men. There was a lot of speculation that they were teasing/taunting her. Many people were crying to wait for the official report. Well, some of it is here now. They WERE taunting her:

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8007892

A tranquilizer gun would have been nice, but not very practical. Tranquilizers take time to take effect. Once person was dead, and others injured. Police Officers are not trained to deal with anything like this. They used what tools they had at their disposal. Not only that, it sounds like they only used their weapons when they tiger was advancing on them.

It's a tragedy all the way around, but will probably result in new policies to ensure it doesnt happen again.

[Bbryan5]

if it is true that they were drunk and taunted the tiger he was not a victim.

Wow, you would not have said that had that been your son killed. Let's not forget, the KID was only 17 years old.

Thanks to Dallas for understanding what I was saying. Humans come first.

[Tee Why]

It's sad that a boy died, but it looks like they were drunk and stoned. What if they had killed someone driving back? It looks like from the report that a bloodied sign was found in a prohibited area close to the tiger's pen.

It's sad, but it's tough to feel sorry for a young man who goes to the zoo, drunk and stoned, goes into an area he isn't suppose to go, harasses a poor animal which can't run away and then gets attacked by the animal.

I've done stupid things when I was young, but this is way beyond stupidity to just pure reckless behavior. It's tough to feel sorry for those that needlessly risk their life and lose out. Yes, he was 17 and a kid. But a 17 year old should know better than to do something like this.

The boy died as a consequence of his poor decisions and actions. The tiger died defending itself and had no choice in this matter. I'm not some crazed animal lover and do believe that people are way more important than animals but I think this is not a question of whether a boys life or a tigers life is more valuable.
Sorry for the rant...

[bonefish]

I had thought about not posting a response but feel I should. Maybe my earlier comment could have been a little more tactfull or better explained.
When I was young I frequently drove drunk, if on one of those times I had driven into a tree and died I would not be a "victim" but somebody who died due to his own actions, if however on my way to the tree I ran over two people on the sidewalk they would be victims.
Alcohol has a tendancy to make one feel bulletproof as the expression goes and maybe the guys believed they were safe from the tiger when they climbed on the railing ( here the zoo may have some of the responsibility for the wall not being high enough ) but they still did something they should not have.

Is it sad that a young man was killed, yes was he a victim no.

As much as I like to visit zoos for the chance to see animals I will never see in the wild it would be nice if they did not need to exist, the first zoos were created as a form of entertainment but now they do so much work towards conservation that soon some species may only exist in zoos so they are needed more than ever.

[FlyingPhotog]

One thing that no one has pointed out: If the wall in question is in fact too low, it's been too low for 40 years. At least from what I've read, that's the last time it was altered and in fact was raised from where it had been previous.

40 years and this has never happended before?

[EZRider]

Its sad for all parties involved!

I hope they resolve this and find out what happened.

[Flo]

Wow! I'm a little shocked by some of the comments here. Siding with the animal? Huh? Hopefully you just chose the wrong words or I'm interpreting your statement wrong....

I'm the first to say that I'm sorry the tiger died. It's sad that she lived there relatively peacefully for years, but for whatever reason, she went after the three young men. There was a lot of speculation that they were teasing/taunting her. Many people were crying to wait for the official report. Well, some of it is here now. They WERE taunting her:

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8007892

A tranquilizer gun would have been nice, but not very practical. Tranquilizers take time to take effect. Once person was dead, and others injured. Police Officers are not trained to deal with anything like this. They used what tools they had at their disposal. Not only that, it sounds like they only used their weapons when they tiger was advancing on them.

It's a tragedy all the way around, but will probably result in new policies to ensure it doesnt happen again.

You read exactly what I typed;)

[cdifoto]

Yep, something sounds fishy. My gut feeling tells me that she was taunted and reacted like any cornered tiger being harassed would do.

Not necessarily. When I see a big juicy burger, I eat it. It doesn't have to taunt me first.

[cdifoto]

The tiger died defending itself and had no choice in this matter.

Bull****. A tiger doesn't have to defend itself against any human.

[jonnythan]

There was apparently alcohol and marijuana involved. The kids entered the pen, stood on a wall, and taunted Tatiana from the edge of the moat.

The kid who died had a BAC of twice the legal driving limit as well as cannabis in his system.

[cdifoto]

Is it sad that a young man was killed, yes was he a victim no.

Yes, he was a victim. He was a victim of a tiger attack. Cause irrelevant. Tiger big, human small. Human killed, human victim. A human can (theoretically) jump all over a tiger, grab it, ride it, whatever and it won't hurt the tiger. It's a big strong animal. Teasing a tiger doesn't even come close to hurting it. The tiger wasn't defending itself against a taunting human. The tiger was going after food which had drawn attention to itself. Tigers don't see "na na na na boo boo!" from a human. They don't feel hurt and don't think they need to get revenge. They just see something tasty.

[jonnythan]

Yes, he was a victim. He was a victim of a tiger attack. Cause irrelevant. Tiger big, human small. Human killed, human victim. A human can (theoretically) jump all over a tiger, grab it, ride it, whatever and it won't hurt the tiger. It's a big strong animal. Teasing a tiger doesn't even come close to hurting it. The tiger wasn't defending itself against a taunting human. The tiger was going after food which had drawn attention to itself. Tigers don't see "na na na na boo boo!" from a human. They don't feel hurt and don't think they need to get revenge. They just see something tasty.

I heard reports of slingshots being in their possession. Dunno if that's true, but pissing off or hurting a tiger by hitting it with projectiles does change things a little bit from "arm waving" to "directly provocation."

In either case, the kids made a bunch of very, very poor decisions that led directly to the unfortunate death of one of them.

[steved110]

Thanks for the updates guys. I'm also sorry a human died - but after acting like that they were asking to end up in the Darwin Awards. that was one seriously rare, endangered wild animal there , and now there is one less. Worse than that, the progeny of a breeding female are lost forever. People who can't respect wild creatures for what they are, are incomprehensible to me. They are not fluffy toys and their actions are unpredictable at the best of times. Tease a cat, get scratched, tease a tiger, get minced. It's a question of scale...

I think most of us can think back to stupid decisions and actions made when much younger, and I can certainly remember situations that I was lucky to emerge intact from. But I was taught from a young age to respect animals, also to despise gratuitous cruelty.

I would wonder though, that these people were in a position to do what they did, and ultimately the zoo needs to look long and hard at how they are protecting their animals from the public. I appreciate the need for zoos to help to preserve endangered species, while feeling uneasy about the ethics of locking these animals up, however nice the cages. This situtation was the worst possible outcome for the animal and the people involved.

[erthpro]

It turns out that all of you were correct, she was taunted by the lowlifes she attacked. Hate that anyone died but actions always have and still do have consequences. Too bad she had to pay the price for their stupidity.

[DallasPhoto]

It turns out that all of you were correct, she was taunted by the lowlifes she attacked. Hate that anyone died but actions always have and still do have consequences. Too bad she had to pay the price for their stupidity.

Erthpro, you bite your tongue! You didn't know this kid! I'm 21 and yea, I've gotten drunk before... I personally don't smoke, but I know many people that do! You gonna call them lowlifes?

The direction that this thread has gone in is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous! I can't believe you are talking s#$t about the kid that died. Lowlife??? Really?? C'mon man, choose your words a little better than that. I'm surprised some of you haven't come straight out and said, Sure I'd trade a human life to get the tigers life back! But then again, the threads not closed yet, so I'll just wait and see.

It is true that not everyone appreciates or respects animals like they should be respected, some cases more severe than others, but does this deserve the penalty of death? HAHA NO, not even close.

[erthpro]

Certainly not saying that the "children" deserved what they got, just that their inappropriate behavior seems to have been a large contributing factor to the death of the child and the cat. Hope this is more politically correct.

[MikeI]

. I'm surprised some of you haven't come straight out and said, Sure I'd trade a human life to get the tigers life back!

.

I think some people already have, but used different words.

[FlyingPhotog]

People absolutely have the right to do as they please BUT they are not entitled to a free pass on the back end if it all goes wrong. They suffered the direct consequence of their actions. How would you all feel if these three had climbed a tree and the tiger instead mauled someone's infant or toddler?

[jonnythan]

Erthpro, you bite your tongue! You didn't know this kid! I'm 21 and yea, I've gotten drunk before... I personally don't smoke, but I know many people that do! You gonna call them lowlifes?
If they get drunk and high and jump into wild animal pens at the zoo for a bit of fun, then, yes, they're certainly lowlifes.

[printguy]

Hello! You provoke a carnivore simply by being constructed of flesh and bones. If the animal is killed to prevent further injury to death to bystanders I can understand it but I'll never understand why a "wild" animal which is supposed to be confined to a cage or enclosure and has killed a person because the enclosure failed or the person entered the cage should be sentenced to death. It doesn't bring the person back or undo any other damage done during the event.

Most zoo enclosures are designed to allow good viewing while preventing a child or sane adult from accidentally entering the animal area. Anyone entering an animal enclosure is subject to the consequences. In the case of an animal that escapes it's cage, the people who designed, built, maintain and operate the enclosure are more responsible than the animal who would have done no damage if it hadn't gotten out.

[tommykjensen]

Ok I think the discussion man vs animal has gone on long enough.

Lets get back to commenting the photo instead.

[DallasPhoto]

If they get drunk and high and jump into wild animal pens at the zoo for a bit of fun, then, yes, they're certainly lowlifes.

Sorry, I've said all I could and obviously I'm not talking any sense into you guys! ^^^That is such an ignorant comment

[jonnythan]

Sorry, I've said all I could and obviously I'm not talking any sense into you guys! ^^^That is such an ignorant comment

I'd like to see your definition of "lowlife."

[DallasPhoto]

I'd like to see your definition of "lowlife."

You're the one of the ones that used it... lets hear your definition

[jonnythan]

You used it before I did.... but since you asked:

low·life /ˈloʊˌlaɪf/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[loh-lahyf] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -lifes.
a despicable person, esp. a degenerate

low·life (lō'līf') Pronunciation Key
n. pl. low·lifes also low·lives (-līvz')
A person of low social status or moral character