The young man mauled to death Tuesday night at San Francisco Zoo has been identified as a 17-year-old from San Jose. That victim was Carlos Sousa, Jr.
Carlos Sousa of San Jose says his son, Carlos was a good kid and that he'll be missed very much.
Sousa says his son was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 KCBS Team Coverage
The site at San Francisco Zoo where Sousa was killed and two brothers were attacked by a tiger is being considered a crime scene according to San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong, until it can be determined human action was not a part of the tiger getting out of its enclosure.
San Francisco Zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo said today that "presently there is an ongoing investigation regarding how that situation occurred. We're still not too clear as to exactly what transpired. I will be working with my staff to do a thorough analysis of the outdoor large cat exhibits to assure they are safe and to find out what modifications need to be done."
SF Zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo gives the latest on the investigation
Mollinedo said the zoo will be bringing in accredited zoo officials from the across the United States to come in and re-evaluate the outdoor exhibits.
Police Chief Fong said when officers arrived on the scene they saw a tiger sitting next to one person who was on the ground. The tiger then started to attack the person on the ground again and at that point the "officers didn't fire because they were concerned they would not be able to contain the animal. When the yelling was occurring the animal turned toward the officers and it is at that time that they fired."
The officers did three searches of the zoo overnight to check for any other possible victims. A fourth walk through was done this morning once it became light.
"Because we are not certain this incident occurred as a result of human action or whether this was an incident where the animal was able to get out of the grotto, we have deemed the site as of last night a crime scene. We want to ensure that we gather all evidence so that in the event that there was any human involvement in the situation that we can have the evidence to determine that." Chief Fong said today.
The two young men injured last night at the San Francisco Zoo by the tiger are both reported to be doing well today at San Francisco General Hospital one day after the attack left them with deep wounds and lacerations. They've been identified as two brothers, also from San Jose, ages 19 and 23.
SF Medical Hospital Dr. Rochelle Dicker describes the current condition of the victims
KCBS reporter Ron Naso at San Francisco General Hospital said one of the surgeons on the case, Dr. Rochelle Dickers, said the young men were stable when they arrived at the hospital. The hospital staff cleaned the men's wounds and have been giving them doses of antibiotics because of concern over infection from the bites. Dr. Dickers described the young men as "doing very well and they are very stable."
The tiger involved in Tuesday's was the same big cat that attacked a zookeeper last year.
Police say the Siberian tiger, named Tatiana, escaped from its pen and attacked three men outside a cafe at the east end of the zoo. The attack happened shortly after closing time.
Fire Department spokesman Lt. Ken Smith said. ``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.''
Officials at first worried that four tigers had escaped, but they soon learned that only one had escaped its pen, according to Mannina.
Last December, one of the zoo's tigers mauled a zookeeper during a regular public feeding. The 350-pound animal reached through the cage's iron bars and badly lacerated her arm. The zoo's Lion House was temporarily closed during an investigation.
It's anyone's guess at this point - as to how the tiger got out of her enclosure.
But Chris Austria, a former tiger trainer at Six Flags Marine World who has also done work for the San Francisco Zoo, says he doubts Tatiana could have jumped over a twenty foot wall to escape.
"Well I've done a lot of behaviors in my training days as far as jumping tigers for educational shows and they can jump pretty well but a 300-pound tiger cannot scale a 20-foot wall or fence very easily or if at all. They're really not very agile to be great jumpers," Austria said.
Austria added once the tiger was out of her pen she most likely attacked because she felt threatened by the people in the vicinity.
Austria does not think animals that attack people should automatically be destroyed. But, he says - he understands why police acted as they did to end this particular situation.
Jack Hanna, the former director of the Columbia Zoo in Ohio and nationally recognized expert on wildlife, comments
Lora Lamarcus, spokeswoman for the SF Zoo, on the on-going police investigation
KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports Live from the Zoo
(Photo courtesy of CBS5) |
