Tiger attack. . .San Francisco Zoo admits that the wall was too low. . .

[NewtonMP2100]

. . .I smell a lawsuit. . .


. . .Director Manuel A. Mollinedo acknowledged that the wall was 12 1/2 feet — well below the 16.4-foot minimum height suggested by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. . .

[volcs0]

In other news, there is an Association of Zoos & Aquariums...

[M A V I C]

how's that work, A squared + B squared = C squared...

That's a 23.5' leap going 12.5' up and 20' over. For some reason I think the extra 2.3' wasn't going to make a big difference.

It'll be interesting once the facts come out.

[AlphaDog]

It's true the height of the wall was overstated in the original reports, but, on the other hand, the width of the moat was much understated. According to the article linked below, the first statements were that the wall was 18 feet high and the moat was 20 feet wide. They're now saying the wall is only 12 feet, 5 inches, but that the moat is 33 feet across. Given the tiger would have had to clear both the moat and the wall, that's one heck of a leap for a zoo animal. The article I read also says there was no shoe inside the enclosure but a shoeprint was found on the railing of the fence surrounding the enclosure, and police are checking it against the shoes of the three victims.

It is indeed a mystery, but I somehow think that tiger didn't just look up and suddenly decide to have those three particular guys as an evening snack.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071227/D8TQ3AMO1.html

[JoeH]

An extra 2+ feet on the diagonal distance, but almost 4 feet extra vertical. Takes quite a bit more energy to lift that 300 lbs of tiger the extra height against gravity. Would make more difference than widening the moat 4 feet.

[vicrock]

The report I heard this am stated that there was evidence that someone had gone over the fence - possibly enticing the tiger to make the jump.

If that was the case, it is too bad that the tiger had to die for it.

[M A V I C]

[quote JoeH]An extra 2+ feet on the diagonal distance, but almost 4 feet extra vertical. Takes quite a bit more energy to lift that 300 lbs of tiger the extra height against gravity. Would make more difference than widening the moat 4 feet.
True, I'm just trying to point out that's one heck of a leap to begin with.

[OWC Jamie]

A full grown 550 pound Tiger can easily leap 30 feet from a stand-still.


""Captive tigers aren't nearly in the kind of shape that wild tigers have to be in to survive," he said."

That's the kind of stupid theories that get 12 and a half foot walls built.

"Captive tigers aren't normally in the kind of shape that wild tigers have to be in to survive," might be a bit more correct. At east wiser. Cheats built on fantasies.

Those kind of cheats are what brings us so much cheap junk that falls apart when it shouldn't.

[Comandanta_Blankenship]

Too bad they had to kill the tiger. Should have awarded her a medal.

[space-time]

[quote Comandanta_Blankenship]Too bad they had to kill the tiger. Should have awarded her a medal.
are you serious? a medal for what?

I am all for animal rights, but when it becomes a matter of human vs animal, guess what, I protect those from my own species. Unless I am a tiger typing here on this powerbook, that means the human lives and the cat dies. Period.