Tiger escapes at San Francisco zoo, kills visitor

A tiger that mauled a zookeeper last year
escaped from its pen at the San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday, killing one
man and injuring two others before police shot it dead, authorities
said.
The three
men were in their 20s; they were together and were not zoo employees,
San Francisco Police spokesman Steve Mannina said. They were attacked
just after the 5 p.m. closing time, on the east end of the 125-acre
grounds.
They suffered "pretty aggressive bite marks," Mannina said.

It was unclear how the tiger escaped or how
long it was on the loose. The approximately 300-pound female Siberian
tiger, named Tatiana, attacked a zookeeper last December during a
public feeding, according to the zoo's director of animal care and
conservation.
Robert
Jenkins, the zoo's director of animal care and conservation, could not
explain how the animal escaped. The tiger's enclosure is surrounded by
a 15-foot-wide moat, and 20-foot-high walls.
"There
was no way out through the door," Jenkins said. "The animal appears to
have climbed or otherwise leapt out of the enclosure."
The zoo, which is open 365 days a year, was evacuated immediately after the attack was reported.
The
two injured men were in critical but stable condition at San Francisco
General Hospital, Fire Department spokesman Lt. Ken Smith said. A call
to the supervising nurse at San Francisco General was not immediately
returned.
'Tragic event for San Francisco'
"This
is a tragic event for San Francisco," Smith said. "We pride ourselves
in our zoo, and we pride ourselves in tourists coming and looking at
our city."
Authorities
did not believe there were any other people attacked, but because it
was dark they could not be certain. Investigators, using ladders and
flashlights, remained on the scene. Smith said a thorough sweep of the
grounds would be conducted in the morning.

Investigators working to understand what happened have sketched a chilling picture.
The
first attack happened right outside the Siberian's enclosure — the
victim died on the scene. A group of four officers, responding to an
emergency call, came across his body when they made their way into the
dark zoo rounds, Mannina said. It was immediately unclear who had placed the call.
Then they saw the second victim about 300 yards away, in front of the Terrace Cafe.
The
man was sitting on the ground, blood running from gashes in his head.
Tatiana sat next to him. Suddenly, the cat attacked the man again,
Mannina said.
The
officers started approaching the animal, bearing their handguns.
Tatiana started moving in their direction. Several of the officers then
fired, killing the animal.
Only then did they see the third victim, who also had been mauled.
Although
no new visitors were let in after 5 p.m. the grounds were not scheduled
to close until an hour later, and there were between 20 and 25 people
still on site when the attacks happened, zoo officials said.

Zoo blamed for previous attack
There
are five tigers at the zoo — three Sumatrans, and two Siberians.
Officials initially worried that four tigers had escaped, but they soon
learned that only one had left its pen, according to Mannina.
In
December 2006, the animal reached through the cage's iron bars and
badly lacerated a zookeeper's arm. The zoo's Lion House was temporarily
closed during an investigation.
California's
Division of Occupation Safety and Health blamed the zoo for the assault
and imposed a US$18,000 penalty, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
San
Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that he was deeply
saddened by the latest incident, and said a thorough investigation was
under way.
Following
last year's attack, the zoo added customized steel mesh over the bars,
built in a feeding shoot and increased the distance between the public
and the cats.
Tatiana
arrived at the San Francisco Zoo from the Denver Zoo a few years ago,
with zoo officials hoping she would mate with a male tiger.
The zoo will be closed today.