In what must have been the six most shit-laced months of his life, Manuel Mollinedo, the executive director of the San Francisco Zoo, has resigned. Ever since Tatiana the tiger went for Carlos Sousa's jugular last Christmas, and made minor Bay Area celebrities out of the bumbling brothers Dahliwal, the San Francisco Zoo has faced "high zoo employee turnover" and "abysmal morale." Tanya McVeigh Peterson, a zoo society board lawyer will serve as interim director.

Mollinedo, who has been with SF Zoo since 2004, plans on retiring in the Bay Area, but keeping close ties with the zoo. No additional details have been provided as to what led to his departure. One can only guess.

Chin up, Manuel. It's over now. It's over. Shhh.

Carlos Sousa Jr.'s autopsy report has just been released to the public. According to ABC 7's Dan Noyes, the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office's report details the massive (and pretty graphic) injures Sousa suffered from Tatiana the tiger on Christmas Day 2007 at the San Francisco Zoo after a tiger escaped from her grotto.

The report confirms the cause of death: “Blunt force injuries of the head and neck (predatory cat bite(s)).” The evidence of the mauling is devastating – Sousa suffered many punctures and scratches to his head, neck and chest. The tiger fractured his skull and spine, and cut his jugular vein.

Sousa's blood also tested positive for both booze and marijuana. But you knew that already. Also, the report also goes into detail about how Tatiana's body is being kept: in baggies inside of a freezer for research. It seems she met her maker after a bullet entered her through the forehead. Alas.

Image: Matt Knoth/Flickr (Wikicommons)