Tiger's Wall Lower Than National Standard

A San Francisco Zoo wall apparently scaled by a Siberian tiger who subsequently killed a teenage park patron is four feet lower than national standards, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The big cat, Tatiana, also mauled two of the victim's friends after her escape Christmas Day. Zoo officials initially reported that the wall surrounding the moat and tiger area was at least 20 feet high, but new measurements put it at about 12.5 feet high.

Investigators believe the only way the tiger could have escaped was to leap over the wall, but "how she jumped that high is beyond me," said the zoo's director. The American Zoological Association, which had inspected the enclosure, "raised no concerns about the wall," he said. Carlos Sousa Jr. was killed in the attack; his friends are recovering in a local hospital. (More San Francisco stories.)