California teen named as victim of tiger mauling
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) — The person mauled to death by a Siberian tiger at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas was 17-year-old Carlos Sousa of San Jose, California, the San Francisco medical examiner’s office said Wednesday.
The area where the 300-pound female named Tatiana killed the teen and attacked two men was declared a crime scene. The survivors, whose identities have not been released, are in stable condition, according to a surgeon at San Francisco General Hospital.
Ron Magill of the Miami Metro Zoo in Miami, Florida, told CNN that the Siberian tiger is “the most powerful cat on the face of this planet.”
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Mollinedo was asked about an incident involving Tatiana last year. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the tiger chewed the flesh off a keeper’s arm during a public feeding demonstration. Mollinedo said Tatiana “was acting like a normal tiger” at the time, and that the zoo modified procedures to increase security.
The zoo remained closed Wednesday while officials investigated, Mollinedo said. The zoo is expected to reopen Thursday, but the lion house, the zoo’s big-cat exhibit, will remain closed “until we get a better understanding of what actually happened.”
Police shot and killed the tiger Tuesday as she attacked her second and third victims, Fong said.
“We have deemed the site, as of last night, a crime scene,” Fong said Wednesday. She said fire and police responded to emergency calls shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday. When police arrived, they saw the tiger “sitting next to a person on the ground,” and the tiger turned back and began attacking the person again, she said.
Officers yelled for the tiger to stop, and didn’t fire immediately “for fear that they would not be able to contain their fire,” she said. “When the yelling was occurring, the animal turned toward the officers,” who then shot and killed the animal, Fong said.
Dicker said the biggest concern was infection, and the two would remain on antibiotics after their release. The men were doing well because emergency medical service crews got them to the hospital so quickly Tuesday, and because of their good health and ages — 19 and 23.
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health determined last year, after the first incident with Tatiana, that the zoo was at fault because of hazardous conditions in the lion house and a lack of specialized safety training for employees, according to the Chronicle. The lion house was closed for more than six months after the mauling, the paper reported, and the zoo made changes that the state safety division ordered.
Along with Siberian tigers, an endangered species, the zoo has rarer and smaller Sumatran tigers.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums issued a statement expressing sympathy for the victims and support for the zoo.
“The San Francisco Zoo is a great zoo, it’s an accredited AZA member in good standing, and it has our support during this difficult time,” the statement said.
“They rested overnight after they were taken to the operating room for cleaning and closure of their wounds,” Dr. Rochelle Dicker told reporters. “Right now, I can tell you that they’re in good spirits, and they look absolutely fantastic.”
San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong said police secured the area to gather evidence and witness statements.
Earlier, authorities searched the San Francisco Zoo four times and are certain that there are no more victims of the tiger, which escaped from her pen. They used infrared and heat-sensing tools and also walked the area between where the tiger is believed to have gotten out of her cage and a cafe — a route of one-eighth of a mile — where the attacks took place.
“There were no other tigers that were lose in the zoo and no more victims,” Fong said Wednesday.
Tatiana was held in an exhibit area that included a 20-foot moat and an 18-foot wall, said zoo director Manuel Mollinedo. It’s possible the tiger jumped from her enclosure, but authorities have not determined how the animal escaped.
“AZA-accredited zoos are safe. Until this incident, there had not been a visitor fatality resulting from an animal escape at an AZA-accredited zoo.”
The group said the zoo’s independent Accreditation Commission would review the tiger attack.
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