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Zoo Reopens As Mauling Inquiry Looks Into Taunting

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By MARCUS WOHLSEN, The Associated Press

Published: January 4, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO - Nine days after a tiger mauled three visitors, the San Francisco Zoo reopened Thursday with safety improvements and more signs warning people not to pester the animals.

The zoo's big-cat enclosure will remain closed indefinitely, but many visitors Thursday said they wanted to show their support for the facility.

"We've always felt safe here at the zoo," said Dianne Todd of Sunnyvale, who was there with her husband and two adolescent sons. The zoo staff, she said, "do their best to keep everybody safe."

Zoo spokesman Paul Garcia said the zoo is installing a public-alert system that would broadcast an alarm to notify zoo staff of any emergency. Employees could then use portable speakers to give instructions to visitors.

The improvements were made as police investigated whether the 350-pound Siberian tiger's victims had taunted the animal before it climbed or leaped out of its outdoor pen. Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, was killed, and his two friends were severely injured.

"All I know is that something happened to provoke that tiger to leap out of her exhibit," zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo said Wednesday. He declined to elaborate because the police investigation is not yet complete.

On Thursday, zoo officials invited visitors to bring items in remembrance of Sousa and the tiger, which was shot dead by police during the attack.

Some visitors placed flowers, cards and photographs of the animal beside a sculpture of a bronze tiger that has stood near the zoo entrance since before the mauling. An animal-rights group planned a candlelight vigil for Sousa and the tiger, named Tatiana.

Susan Pettitt, 31, of Santa Clara, choked back tears as she lay flowers, photos and stuffed animals at the sculpture.

"It actually hurts pretty bad to hear about Tatiana's death," said Pettitt, who has visited the zoo weekly for the past three years.

A woman has claimed she saw three men teasing the animals shortly before the tiger attack, according to a report on the Web site of the San Francisco Chronicle. Jennifer Miller, who was at the zoo on Christmas with her husband and two children, said the family left the area because her children were disturbed by the young men's behavior.

"The boys, especially the older one, were roaring at them. He was taunting them," Miller told the newspaper. She said Sousa, whom she recognized in newspaper photos, was not harassing the animals.

Police talked to Miller on Wednesday, but were not able to corroborate reports that the victims taunted the tigers. They also could not substantiate Miller's claim that a fourth person was with the attack victims, or what effect the taunting she described might have had.

At the tiger enclosure, high fences covered with green tarps kept the scene of the attack hidden from view.

The city has hired an architect to design a more secure pen that would put a 19-foot-tall barrier between visitors and the zoo's big cats, Mollinedo said Wednesday.

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