The situation was resolved predictably:
"They shot the tiger, and the tiger is deceased," she said.
The symbolism, which is too ham-handed for the pulpiest of fiction, was apparently lost on the audience.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Almost like it was scripted...
A very large kitty, which was not declawed, mauled three humans (one fatally) who were. Declawed, that is.
The situation was resolved predictably:
The symbolism, which is too ham-handed for the pulpiest of fiction, was apparently lost on the audience.
The situation was resolved predictably:
The symbolism, which is too ham-handed for the pulpiest of fiction, was apparently lost on the audience.
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23 comments:
There might be something wrong with me. When I read the story, I said, "Aw, poor kitty!"
According to the article, that tiger had a bit of a history. It being California and all, litigation is likely in the near future.
Yeah, I thought about this story for a long time, but beating up on Kalifornia because they disarm their peasants is just a bit depressing.
I mean, will they never learn? Apparently not.
Holy Manchas! My litter mate went to the Zoo that day. The Copenhagen zoo, but still.
"The San Francisco Chronicle reported the tiger was the same animal that chewed the flesh off a keeper's arm during an attack last December that took place during a public feeding demonstration."
Yet another case where the system failed one of those it was meant to help. Where was the tiger's parole officer? Why had it not completed anger management counselling? Was it attending its twelve step human flesh addiction program?
And, who knew the San Francisco P.D. carried 450/400 Nitro Express double rifles in their patrol cars?
Finally, in Tennessee we handle these problems with
proper judicial forms, not with summary murder. The tiger might have been defending itself, or had psychological issues.
Other than that it is in Calf. does anyone know if it is a gun free zone (I mean compared to the rest of the state)?
Also, how much can a carry gun do to a 350 lb tiger? I would hope it would scare it off but fear I would be just pissing it off shooting at it . . . .
Breda,
That was my response too. But then I get up each day and rub my hands together cackling "Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha! What eeeeevil can I perpetrate today?"
Then the meds kick in.
Actually I do kinda feel bad for the tiger. We took these animals out of their habitat and locked them up in cages. Then we get all worked up when one of them takes the opportunity to munch on us. Meh. Color me unsympathetic. (for the munch-ee)
BryanP I would second your lack of sympathy if it was a handler but I think it was just someone at the Zoo so not a fare target for revenge on the Tigers part like the keeper was. . .
Heck, they may not have even been there to see the Tiger and therefor have no part in repressing it ; ) and if that is true then the tiger is guilty of poor claw/fang control. . . Just another Tiger gone bad and another run by clawing . . . when will our zoos be safe from run by clawings . . . .
Siberian tigers really don't have natural habitat anymore due to, among other things, the stupid Chinese hunting them for their magic penile potency potions (what they call "medicine")
Breda.... that was my exact thought.
I agree... must be something wrong with me.... I was rooting for the poor tiger.
Never did like zoos.
As this was SF i wonder if the Tiger was a Gay Hater and this will be listed as a hate crime!
Actually, especially if it was a Siberian, it might actually have had psychological issues. Siberians in captivity have been majorly inbred to try and keep the sub-species going, and one of the results that can crop up out of that is temperaments that range from "iffy" to outright psychosis. I saw such a tiger at a small private zoo once- it basically had no social or emotional-state cues and would attack its keepers at random. They were keeping it alive (at risk to everyone who had to work with it) because they thought that was the compassionate thing to do.
A normal escaped big cat is in a panic and looking for cover- it does NOT deliberately go into a densely populated area of humans and pick one of them to attack.
What did they shoot it with?!? I was thinking about it this morning and I'm not sure how I'd feel about 7 rounds of .45. It might only piss it off if not hit just right.
For those who haven't read them,
Man Eaters of Kumaon (Corbett) and
Life of PI (Martel)
are very different yet very good books with tigers in important roles.
Life of Pi is just stunning. Don't read reviews or dust jackets, just the book.
Right-on Stagehounds, the kids were taunting it. It knew who was bothering it and chased the two remaining ones down, 300-yards, and got after them in the cafeteria where it mauled them. Don't fuck with tigers.
I grew up reading Man Eaters of Kumaon, and Corbett was one of my my idols. About forty miles from where we lived on the east coast of India, was a big wildlife preserve that included several captured Bengal tigers who were maneaters. One was lonely for its mate and howled all the time, and one night and SHE lept over 15-foot high, barb-wire festooned, sharpened picket wall INTO the enclosure and went to him - then later she jumped back over and left. Among other things that year, in that small but densely forested and very rural region, more people died from tigers (by a big margin) than automobile accidents (or trains) - and if you only knew how people there drove, and what the trains were like...
A 500lb male tiger is a huge Force of Nature - a 250_+ female is almost worse because she has cubs.
News reports don't really say but it seems most likely the cops shot and killed it with sidearms, which would be .40S&W or 9mm. News reports now also aren't commenting much about earlier reports that it was taunted, instead focusing on the victim status of the parents of the kid.
Yeh it sucks to be/was him dead - but 17 yr olds from San Jose have much more exposure to cheap taunting (which can also cause them their life) than to the real beasts of the woods that can make mincemeat of 'em. I had a friend in boarding-school who became an entomologist and expert on snakes working at the Madras Zoo. We had a lot of those too (snakes) in our area and IMHO they are worse than tigers any time.
Cats are considered "thin skinned", in more ways than one, it seems! Big game hunters use normal hunting bullet construction when going after cats, not the heavy or solid type reserved for buffalo and elephant, etc. Anything designed for large deer, elk, or fast African herbivores would be appropriate. 12 ga at short range, (usually all you get) would work.
Back about 15 yrs ago, a local cop working in a gun shop told me that a big sales item for them was the .44 Desert Eagle, which was being purchased by SF cops. I think they were issued a .38 revolver at the time. He said they were allowed to carry anything as a backup. They were having problems with PCP users, and the .38's weren't effective for them. So, they would carry the DE in a shoulder rig. Never got confirmation on this. However, the .44 mag in handgun range would do the job, with good placement. And steady nerves!
They switched to 9mm issue by about '95.
News reports indicate that 4 SF officers fired at the cat with their .40sw handguns. What is interesting, but not surprising, is that none of the cops availed themselves of the shotgun (or rifle?) that they had in the two patrol cars. I think that indicates a lack of confidence in their long gun training. In general, it seems that the average cop never attains a level of competence that would make them reach for a long gun without being ordered to.
It's not like they couldn't get to them, they drove right up to the cat, outside the cafe.
The zoo website says nothing about weapons. However, IF you can get a carry permit(near unubtainium in the Bay Area), there are very few off limit places. Not sure if a zoo would fall into that category. As far as I can recall, only gov't designated places are off limit.
.40's are designed to penetrate most body armor, so they ought to penetrate deep enough in an unarmored tiger. They would be seriously short of stopping power - that is, if only hit a few times, the tiger would take a long time to bleed out - but several cops with two or more magazines each ought to be able to make more holes than that.
when I first heard this story, I figured someone let that kitty out - I mean, do you think that's only the second time that cat has been really pissed off? I don't. I mean, unless it's on ritalin or something. Jeez.
".40's are designed to penetrate most body armor"
WHAT?!?
The SFPD carries .40 JHPs that are no more designed to penetrate body armor than is my big toe.
Who told you that?
300 pound tigers are made from the same bone, blood, muscle, and nerves that 300 pound football players are, so the bullets would do the job. As we see.
A tiger, like any other animal, is fitter and far less likely to "quit" than the man though.
I suspect that they didn't bring the shotguns or rifles, if they had any, because they didn't think to.
Tam is so tough her toes penetrate body armor! Wow!
Yeah, but I bet there's a lot more 'quit' in a 300 pound linebacker than a pissed-off 300 pound she-cat.
Regards,
Rabbit.
Lady Tam, She of the Armor Piercing Piddies!!!!!!!!
The .40S&W (.40 Short and Weak)was designed to duplicate the reduced recoil "FBI Load" of the 10mm round in a shorter package, suitable for use in the same size frames as the 9mm. The 10mm was supposed to fix the lethality (as in lack of) problems law enforcement was experiencing with the 9mm europill. Designed to defeat body armor? Really? Where'd you get that? What sort of body armor? It's a PISTOL round, and a middling sized one at that, pushing it's bullet at a middling velocity. So unless the projectile is made of some magical mithril alloy or utilizes technology unavailable to mortals/civilians, I'm not sure how that is possible.
The tiger may only be flesh and blood like a 300lbs linebacker but I bet his bones are thicker. . . especially the skull. . . And I would also guess they move better so are harder to hit . . . just a thought.
Tam, do you have to register those armor piercing toes of yours? Must go through shoes awful quickly. . .
= )
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