четверг, 3 января 2008 г.

Young Man Killed by Tiger Was Quiet One, Witness Says

Did a group of young men taunt a Siberian tiger before it escaped from its enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas Day and attacked them?

A witness to the incident added weight to that claim in an interview today in The San Francisco Chronicle, saying that the young men “were roaring at” the zoo’s lions and acting “boisterous” for the four to five minutes when she was watching.

But the witness, Jennifer Miller, apparently did not add anything to the suspicions being investigated by police that a large rock, a tree branch and other items were thrown into another exhibit area holding the 350-pound tiger.

If the police conclude that a crime was committed, it would be a misdemeanor.

Lawyers for the men flatly denied that there had been teasing of any kind, and a police official pointed out that Ms. Miller’s account could amount to “what kindergartners do at the zoo every day,” The Chronicle reported.

“The lion was bristling, so I just said, ‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’ ” Ms. Miller said. “My kids were disturbed by it.”

The tiger’s rampage began minutes later, and didn’t end until two of the young men were hurt, and another, Carlos Sousa Jr., was killed. According to Ms. Miller, Mr. Sousa was the only one in the group that did not participate in the rough-housing:

“He wasn’t roaring. He wasn’t taunting them,” she recalled. “He kept looking at me apologetically like, ‘I’m sorry, I know we are being stupid.’ “

Of course, no one deserves to be mauled, not even a taunting teenager. But Mr. Sousa’s death seemed especially tragic. The zoo reopened today with new signs posted, evidently inspired by a 17-year-old who died while following the rules:

PLEASE don’t tap on glass, throw anything into exhibits, make excessive noise, tease or call out to them.”

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