Zoo: Killer Tiger Was Provoked

Shoe, blood by fence indicate a visitor may have dangled leg
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 27, 2007 11:18 AM CST
Zoo: Killer Tiger Was Provoked
Carlos Sousa, left, and his wife Marilza Sousa address the media about the death of their son Carlos Jr. at their home in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007. Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, of San Jose, Calif. was killed by a tiger that escaped at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas Day. (AP Photo/Tony...   (Associated Press)

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.

Police say there’s no evidence to suggest the three victims were taunting the tiger, but sources tell the Chronicle pine cones found within the enclosure couldn’t have fallen there naturally and were probably thrown. The escaping tiger killed one, injured the others, and then followed their trail of blood for 300 yards, ignoring other zoo patrons. (More Siberian tiger stories.)

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