(Newser) – Two survivors of a Christmas Day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo that killed their friend yesterday embraced the distraught parents of the fallen teen at his emotional funeral. "There's a lot of anger inside," said a pal of 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., who was laid to rest in an Oakland Raiders jersey.
Carlos' mother hugged the brothers who survived the mauling, telling the media that she's eager to hear their account of the tragedy, but that they need time to heal. Some press reports have said Sousa was killed as he tried to save one of the brothers. When asked if the zoo was responsible for her son's death because the tiger enclosure doesn't meet national guidelines, she said, "It was too small. It doesn't change anything. My son is dead." Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Mar 19, 08 7:37 CDT When a 243-pound tiger escaped its pen and began mauling Christmas Day visitors, the San Francisco Zoo was painfully understaffed and ill-equipped to respond to the emergency, according to a new report. "The zoo is too often chasing problems," concluded the independent Association of Zoos and Aquariums of the attack, in which a 17-year-old visitor died and two friends were injured. More »
Jan 30, 08 10:32 CST The investigation into last month's attack at the San Francisco Zoo has found no conclusive evidence that the victims committed a crime in taunting Tatiana the tiger, and police have suspended the case, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The probe had been focusing on cell phone records and car contents of Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal, friends of the boy who was killed by Tatiana. More »
Jan 5, 08 9:14 CST In the ambulance to the hospital just after a tiger mauled 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. to death, paramedics heard Sousa's two friends make a pact of silence about "what we did," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The two brothers, accused by one witness of taunting the tiger before the attack, have since refused to let police search their car, cell phone records, and photos. More »
Dec 28, 07 4:24 CST 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. More »
Dec 27, 07 11:18 CST The victims of the Christmas Day tiger mauling may have tried to climb into the animal’s enclosure, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Police have found a shoe and blood near the cage moat, and a footprint on the fence. “Somebody really agitated her and gave her some method to break out,” the zoo’s director said of Tatiana, the 4-year-old Siberian tiger who was shot and killed after the attack. More »