Stun guns are used on people, dogs, cattle, and other domestic stock. The effects of the stunners on those species are well known. But what settings would be appropriate for a tiger? How could a person be certain that the cat would actually be immobilized? What if the stun gun only drove it to greater fury?

No, as terrible as it was for the tigress to lose her life, it was really the only choice that the police could have made under the circumstances.

I believe that the San Francisco Zoo had cut corners so much that they had inadequate coverage to ensure the safety of both people and animals.

Now that this tragedy has brought zoo safety into public scrutiny, maybe zoos across the country will modernize their security. For instance, video surveillance might have helped to save young Sousa’s life. Certainly it would have provided some answers as to how the incident unfolded – answers that, given the Dhaliwal brothers’ reported lack of cooperation with the investigators, may never be forthcoming.

Perhaps the zoo really should have higher walls. Read on though…

But then, I’m from India (from the city of Madras or chennai as it is now know). I’ve gone to zoos all around the country and seen the callous attitude with which people lean over the railings and walls (some with toddlers in their hands too) and how they let their kids run around the zoo and do the same stuff with no proper supervision. The same kind of stuff goes on at Madras Crocodile Bank (outside the city) set up by Romulus Whitaker long ago. I’ve even seen the way some people throw stones and such into the tiger enclosure at New Delhi’s zoo (and these ain’t no little kids,I’m talking about grown men who come with their families).

And I’m just an engineering student and I asked him why he was throwing stuff in (while the Tiger was in the Moat surrounding the enclosure, mind you the walls were quite high though). He said “Aaapko kya? (“Why do you care” in hindi). I really felt like pushing him over into the enclosure. But that’s the kind of respect the common man has for animals here. They don’t look upon it with respect, as something of great power, as a being that can and will harm you if you cross the line. They see something in a cage and they go “Hey everyone come see the tiger in the cage, lets throw a few stones at it and taunt it and see whether it roars”.

If the Dhaliwal brothers were indeed taunting the tiger, I’d say they deserved to have been mauled to death by that tiger. It is disheartening to note that Carlos Sousa Jr was killed rather than these two fools. But is it known with absolute certainty that they were not all in the act together?? Its also sad that these guys have the nerve not to cooperate with the police after all they’ve done. Perhaps the zoo should indeed sue them for the loss of the tiger. But no amount of sueing is going to bring that wonderful animal back alive. The loss of the tiger is a tragedy I would put at an equal level with the death of the Souza boy.

The zoo certainly needs to update itself on safety measures. And why didn’t the tiger simple go for anyone else after it got out? Why did it go directly after the two guys who had run to the cafe? Looks like there is something fishy going on with regard to why these kids were there after the zoo’s official closing time.

Year Ends With Zoos in News

The woman had her toddler at the zoo. One of the tigers leaped into the moat and then leaped up and got its paw over the rim of the moat, before it finally slipped back down. The woman told a nearby zoo employee, who also witnessed the incident, and the employee said that the tiger did that all the time, and that it “hated (the employee’s) guts”. The woman then wrote to the zoo director describing the incident and cancelling her zoo membership. She never heard another word about it.

So the zoo authorities had been told about the possibility that the tigers could get out of their grotto, and they apparently did nothing about it.

I had heard about the police finding a shoe print on the railing of tiger pen, but this is the first I have heard of a bloody footprint. Forensics should determine fairly quicky whether that print matches any of the boys’ shoes.

I agree, the Dhaliwal brothers’ behavior seems strange. There’s no way to know, without more information, whether to consider their behavior “suspicious”. My gut feeling is that they had much more to do with the whole tragedy than they are telling. Otherwise why did they tell the Sousa boy’s father that he was not with them, when in fact he was?

I doubt they were at the tiger grotto for any religious or mystic reasons, but there is a lot here that just does not add up.

Are authorities certain that the Sousa boy’s fatal injury was inflicted by the tigress? I wonder, if the tigress saw three men scuffling, for instance, could that have excited her enough to cause her to charge out of her enclosure? Did anyone other than the two brothers witness the escape?

No matter what triggerred her predatory charge, the fact remains that the zoo’s enclosure was not adequate to keep the tiger confined. But I sure would like to find out what caused that attack.