The Lady or the Tiger

For those that might not be living on the right coast (as opposed to the left coast), the big story on Christmas was a 16 year old boy being killed by a tiger at the San Francisco zoo. And by big story, I pretty much mean the only story; when I got back to my parents house after stuffing myself with garlic dip and cheeseballs at my aunt's house for Christmas, it was quite literally the only news story playing on every channel. The news rotation went a little like this: tiger attack, tiger attack, weather, christmas lights, then back to the tiger attack again.

At first everyone thought it was a horrible accident. Then more news came out about the possibility that these three boys (aged 16, 19 and 23) might have been taunting the tiger. (Three young men in a group doing something stupid and irreponsible?! Why that seems so unlikely!) Then the newspeople said we'd all have to wait until the two boys who were mauled but not killed to be released to find out what really happened. But then those two boys lawyered up like all innocent people with nothing to hide, so we're kind of back to the beginning again with a dead boy and a dead tiger and not a lot of other information.

Here's my take. Did the zoo screw up? Yes. People are idiots and the zoo people should be prepared for any kind of totally asinine behavior from people visiting their zoos. Never underestimate the power of people in large groups to do the most illogical, dumb, disrespectful, and dangerous things. And when people come screaming to your door, yelling, "A tiger has escaped and is mauling us!" it's probably worth an investigation, no matter how implausible it sounds at the outset (see my previous comments about the power of stupid people in groups.)

Did the kids screw up? Oh yes. I think they were taunting the tiger. I think they were probably doing stupid and dangerous things - perhaps one was "double dog dared" to jump into the tiger pit. I would wager that some action on their part could be construed at the proximate cause of the 16 year old's death. I feel pretty sorry for the tiger who I suspect was just doing what tigers do.

So tomorrow the zoo opens up again and there is going to be a little memorial inside for people to leave a token on. The best part? Zoo-goers can leave their little remembrance for the kid ... or for Tatiana the tiger, may she rest in peace.