Tatiana, the tiger who escaped at the San Fransisco Zoo on Christmas Day had walls that were just 1 inch less that 4 feet shorter than recommended for Siberian Tigers.
Excerpt NY Times report "Wall Isolating Tiger Habitat Is Shorter Than Zoos Advise ":
Until Thursday, the zoo director, Manuel A. Mollinedo, said he believed the Lion House, which includes the tiger habitat, was surrounded by an 18-foot-tall wall. But in rechecking the habitat’s measurements during the zoo’s investigation, officials discovered the wall was much shorter. They also miscalculated the size of a moat — originally thought to be 20 feet wide and 16 feet deep. The moat is 33 feet wide and 12 feet 5 inches deep.
“In retrospect, it wasn’t sufficient,” Mr. Mollinedo said of the wall. “But prior to this incident, I felt very comfortable that the exhibit was safe.”
Mr. Mollinedo said, however, that the zoo was fully accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and that it had passed all regular association inspections. No authority, he said, had ever expressed concern over the height of the exterior walls or the depth of the moat.
Read rest at source.
Yet, authorities still seem to suspect that the tiger got help, however inadvertent, in climbing out of the enclosure .
tags: tiger attack san fransisco jpst
links: digg this del.icio.us technorati reddit