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AFP:
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The San Francisco Chronicle said police found blood and a shoe inside the tiger’s enclosure and were investigating the possibility that one of the victims may have dangled a leg over the edge of a moat, aiding the tiger’s escape. The newspaper cited unnamed sources close to the investigation as saying that evidence found at the scene “included a shoe and blood in an area between the gate and the edge of the … moat.”
The body of 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. was found near the grotto. He had been killed by a slash to the throat. The other two victims, brothers age 19 and 23 who accompanied Sousa to the zoo, were present when the tiger escaped, the report said. The four-year-old tiger, named Tatiana, attacked one of the brothers before police were able to distract the animal and shoot it dead. “There is no possible way the cat could have made it out of there in a single leap. I would surmise that there was help,” he said. “A couple of feet dangling over the edge could possibly have done it.”
The report also said “pinecones and sticks that were found in the moat might have been thrown at the animal. Those items could not have landed in the grotto naturally,” according to the sources.
A tragic incident or provoked attack? Since the Tiger was involved in a previous mauling, I’m surprised that it wasn’t destroyed at some point.
I suggest just plain old “teenagers-in-groups” stupidity rather than latino machismo culture.
#20
“Anyone want to refute this theory?”
Yeah, De Sousa is a Portuguese last name.
Bad Kitty!
#23 – DaveW,
Nope. Bad humans!!
Sounds like a few teenagers/”young people” taunted a tiger and one of them bought it.
#21, Ron,
I blame their small dicks for the “machismo” acts.
Can anyone think of a cooler way to die, attacked by a Siberian Tiger?
#27 – edwinrogers,
Head swatted off by a polar bear works pretty well.
I must confess that I have thought that when I get too old to enjoy life, if I’m still just barely able, I might go for a walk in the Sundabarans where tigers do hunt people on occasion. There are about 500 tigers there; they eat about 100-250 people/year. So, humans aren’t a big part of their diet. But, there aren’t that many places in the world where human is truly on the menu. Tsavo Africa has lions that eat people somewhat regularly.
Sundabarans: http://tinyurl.com/2zwuya
Tsavo: http://tinyurl.com/34bbq6
#28. Scott, I like you, I love animals as much or more than most, but you are truly demented, in a nice sort of way.
#29….McCullough….lol…..Scott and I and other’s have talked about this human food thing in the past. And It’s one of the thing’s he and I agree on. When my time come’s I just want to be able to get to grizzly country or hopefully Polar bear country and become a meal for one of them.
The kid’s who lived aren’t talking, except to say that the kid who died tried to help one of them and the Tiger turned on him(and the kid who the Tiger was originally mauling took off and left his buddy). But looking at the age range (18 to 23)I would bet the farm they taunted the Tiger. Being one of the world’s top predator’s and very territorial, the Tiger didn’t take well to taunting.
Angel….last I heard, Portugese are lumped under **Hispanic**, but also under **Latino**.
#30, Joshua,
Angel….last I heard, Portugese [sic] are lumped under **Hispanic**, but also under **Latino**.
I don’t think the Portuguese would agree with that anymore than the Danes would think they are German, Norwegians think they are Swedish, or the Scots think they are English. The Portuguese I knew growing up would be quite offended if they were confused with another nationality.
Portugal is in Europe, next to Spain. Hispanic and Spanish people are the same. Portuguese are not.
Latino refers to Spanish speaking people in the Americas.
The name is Sousa, not De Sousa. Pretty sure Carlos was Hispanic. If the tiger effectively performed the Lopitoffamy he could have become a Herspanic.
In the realm of life forces, all beings human & otherwise take a place. The beauty of that female in her prime, the magnificent leap or an aided escape, the young males presumably teasing her, men with guns but no tranquilizer darts used … so many things factor into this dual travesty of life lost on both fronts, the human world & tiger world.
May the young man that left us rest in peace.
I still cannot help wondering why the parents got on TV right away, tearless, blaming, and starting a fund at BofA immediately. I can’t believe the other survivor boys would not talk without a lawyer. Everyone wants to sue to the max. We can’t go back in time to heal the situation. I imagine a better more enlightened world where the tigress could’be been tranq darted, then gone onto to produce some siberian tiger cubs. Perhaps she was pregnant at the time, I believe she may have had a boy tiger friend, Tony.
Good Bye Tat
What a World, we’re all in it.
#29 – McCullough,
Thanks for the compliment. I never claimed to be normal. Normal people are boring.
The world is like a giant fruit cake, it would be imperfect without a few nuts. — quote from an old high school buddy of mine. Haven’t heard from him in many years. Hope all is will with him.
#30 – Joshua,
Good memory. Unless we get hermetically sealed in plastic so that our own digestive juices turn us to soup and entomb the soup forever, we’re all getting back into the food chain. Some will feed plants. Some will feed maggots. Getting in at a higher point sounds like a better idea to me.