AFP:

A Siberian tiger that escaped from its den at the San Francisco zoo and mauled three visitors, killing one, may have been helped out of its den by one of the victims, US media reported Thursday.

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.