Just How STUPID Do You Have To Be
To Jump Into A TIGER's Pit???
[with apologies to Joy - sorry this is not really a SQOTD, it's more of a Docu-Rant!]
On December 25th (Christmas Day), like many I was startled by the 10 o'clock News and the report of three men being attacked by a Siberian Tiger, one of them dying, at the San Francisco Zoo. The initial news reports placed the attack outside the zoo making it sound like the tiger had escaped from the zoo and was roaming the streets of San Francisco randomly eating Sambo's of any and all flavors that happened across its path.
At first I was alarmed and concerned for the victims, then saddened too that the tiger had to be shot and killed by the responding officers (not their fault, there was a tiger on the loose). Something about the whole series of events being reported that evening seemed to be at least a little bit adrift... However! Yesterday's news from the court in San Francisco paints a dramatically different version of the events.
These "boys" were not just randomly attacked by a marauding wild beast. They'd gotten drunk in the car on their way to zoo, smoked a little pot for good measure, and then danced a jig on the wall that is supposed to keep zoo patrons and the animals separated! Their actions were called in by other zoo visitors and it was reported that the three were taunting the young tiger, throwing things at it, and even got into the tiger's enclosure!
Really now, I have to ask:
??? "Just How !!! FREAKIN' STUPID !!! Do You
Have To Be, To Jump Into A TIGER's Pit" ???
Didn't these boys' mamma's teach them anything!!! The same question goes for their fathers as well (but I have an inkling that the papa's may have encouraged some of the stupidity that lead up to this asinine behavior by condoning underage drinking and general adolescent hijinx without explaining the concept of "consequence").
Where is "responsibility" these days ??? Underage drinking and controlled substance use are not valid excuses for the actions of these three boys/young men. When this story first hit the wires I thought there had to be more to it than just a tiger escaping the zoo and mauling three people. It has been reported that the tiger's enclosure had been inspected 3-4 months earlier and found to be acceptable in regards to visitor safety, but it does not meet the newest design standards. Would any reasonable design standard have prevented these three jerks from harassing this poor animal?
The truth is coming out now, the tiger is not culpable, the tiger did what tigers do - defend its den and chase prey. The responsibility of the San Francisco Zoo should be limited to renovating the enclosure to prevent future escapes by tigers (and keep future idiots from getting into the tiger's pit!).
The survivors of this asinine display of complete idiocy and planned stupidity should be tried for criminal trespassing, harassing an endangered species, and for killing an endangered species (charge them with felony murder of the tiger - their criminal actions caused the responding officers to kill the tiger). The family of the minor should be sued for the loss of the tiger, as should the adult participants. Responsibility needs to be placed where it belongs - squarely on the shoulders of the perpetrators!
______________
Some tiger info: This tiger was what is commonly referred to as "Siberian" but is more correctly part of the subspecies "Amur" from the Amur River Valley of Russia . There are about 850 known Amur Tigers left in the world today, over half in zoological institutions. This particular tiger was a medium or averagesized female at 250 pounds (I find no reports of her length), average males of the Amur subspecies grow to lengths of 8 to 9 feet (head & body not including the tail) and weigh around 700 pounds. Amur's tend to be slightly larger than the more common (but still endangered) Bengal tiger.
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Comments: 25
great article
Animals are ALWAYS the victims of stupid, unethical, immoral, people! We are supposed to be the smart ones? These type of people shouldnt be allowed to procreate!
I had a guy come into my house, 2:30 in the morning, terrorizing me, he was in a drunken rage, I got him out of my house, called the police. They caught him. The next day the mother of this guy calls me, (she got my name off of the police report!), to tell me he is sorry, and that he REALLY IS A GOOD BOY WHEN HE ISNT DRINKING!!!!. He is 26yrs old, and mommy is still making excuses for him!!!!
The kids that did this to the tiger need to be made to be responsible for what they did!!!
The survivors should be fined and incarcerated. Period.
Parents, you're going to hate me for saying this but the parents of those boys should be held criminally negligent as well (assuming these boys were under 18).
The poor animals always get killed when some one else starts the trouble,if they would treat the criminals in like ways we would have less crime.
That poor cat was picked at and the two that lived should be in jail for about 10 years each.
My exact words when I heard this are unrepeatable. We, who are supposed to be the intelligent beings of this planet, once more have proven just how stupid and irresponsilbe we can be.