This story still gets a lot of people upset and there are some updates. First the four San Francisco police officers who fatally shot the tiger that escaped its zoo enclosure and attacked three young men on Christmas Day have been recommended for medals of valor.

You might remember that when the officers arrived at the zoo, one man was already dead and the tiger was attacking a second victim. Authorities have said the officers fired their semiautomatic handguns to kill the tiger.

Also according to reports, In the weeks since the animals were quarantined, zookeepers have come up with creative ways to stimulate the cats, including entertaining them with games and toys and even showing them videos of the Disney cartoon “The Lion King.” The tiger exhibit is supposed to re-open tomorrow. Keep Reading …

I know some of the other ‘Tiger Attack’ threads have been very busy as more information gets released. So let’s get the latest findings listed here. San Francisco Police have declined to shed any light on the release of the 911 tapes and there is continued criticism on the response time and actions at the zoo after the emergency call was made. Also on the cafe manager who apparently wouldn’t open the door to help. Meanwhile, a San Francisco Superior Court judge Tuesday evening approved a search warrant allowing police to examine cell phones and a car belonging to the Dhaliwal brothers in its criminal investigation and nobody will elaborate on the reports about alcohol and or taunting. Here’s a link to the 911 call.  HEAR IT HERE 

We first broke this part of the Tiger Attack story after talking with investigators on scene. They told me “taunting is a very strong possibility”, but wouldn’t elaborate.

Now we hear that 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.This is a big development, since we were unsure if any witnesses existed. Does this woman’s account add to evidence? I think that is a very strong likelihood.

The witness, Jennifer Miller, apparently did not see anything thrown at the lion, like a rock or even the use of slingshots, but if the police conclude that a crime was committed, it would be a misdemeanor against the two brothers who survived the attack.Of course the lawyer for the men, Mark Geragos flatly denied that there had been teasing of any kind. Also the woman says the 1 year-old who died, Carlos Sousa Jr., was the only one in the group that did not participate in the rough-housing:Today The zoo reopens and the signs say “PLEASE don’t tap on glass, throw anything into exhibits, make excessive noise, tease or call out to them.”

The director of the San Francisco Zoo, Manuel Mollinedo, gave an afternoon press conference as we await the police findings. Here are the highlights.-He says he’s “extremely satisfied with the way zoo staff responded and put their lives on the line.”

-He avoided criticism that two surviving victims were denied help in the frantic moments following the mauling.
-Mollinedo also said something happened to provoke the tiger. He wouldn’t elaborate and cited the ongoing investigation. “All I know is that something happened to provoke that tiger to leap out of her exhibit,” Mollinedo said.
-The zoo is scheduled to reopen Thursday.
-A new portable public alert system is being put in place that would notify visitors during emergencies. There was no PA system in place at the time of the attack and he doesn’t know why the old one was eliminated.

Keep Reading …

We are learning more each day about the events surrounding the terrifying tiger attack that took place at the San Francisco Zoo Christmas evening.

This weekend, 17 year old Carlos Sousa Jr, who was killed in the mauling, was laid to rest and his two friends, Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal were released from the hospital.

The Dhaliwal’s are brothers age 19 and 23, and didn’t talk to reporters when they were ushered out. I sure am curious what they have told investigators about the night in question.We are now getting an even more vivid picture of just how chaotic the time-line of events really were after Tatiana escaped her habitat that fateful evening.

The time stamps and the content of the 9-1-1 calls have been released, and it looks like zoo employees and police may not have thought this escape and attack was as serious as it was at first.Just exactly how Tatiana, the 350-pound Siberian tiger got out is still up for debate, but police said Friday that they had completed their investigation on the grounds of the zoo, and that investigators found absolutely no evidence of an intentional release.

The one thing we do know: from the moment Tatiana’s enormous paws hit the pavement, she was on a tear, and after blood. A rough breakdown of the 9-1-1 calls reveal the following:At 5:07 PM, the first call to 911 comes in. Zoo employee reports a man “bitten by an exotic animal.” Police are dispatched, but skeptical.

Keep Reading …