Results tagged “zoo”

This just in. Carlos Sousa, Jr.'s family, who sued SF Zoo over their son's 2007 Christmas Day tiger mauling death, has agreed to a settlement. According to today's release:

According to reports, "the contest runs from February 12 through March 5 and is open to children five years and older and to adults." The baby gorilla's name, however will not be picked by zoo officials; instead, "the animal's father, Oscar Jonesy, a dominant silverback gorilla, will get the final say." (The hell?) Judges will choose five names, "each attached to sticks of bamboo." The first stick Jonesy touches will be the winning name. So, you know, it chance will have a lot to do with it.

Still a baby, still (arguably) precious, here's a look at the San Francisco Zoo during a surrogate training session with the infant gorilla and her potential surrogate mom -- Bawang. If you recall his biological mother, Monifa, shunned the little guy since his birth.

The first gorilla birth in over a decade, this little tyke plays "a contributing role to the conservation efforts taking place for this critically endangered species through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan (AZA, SSP)." Wee.

An eight-year-old mother giraffe, one that recently gave birth in Febuary this year, died at the SF Zoo today. (Giraffes usually live anywhere from 15 and 20 years.) Gezi collapsed today a little after noontime, and succumbed to cardiac and respiratory arrest. If you recall, over four years ago two elephants died at the local zoo, and just last year a tiger named Tatiana was shot and killed after mauling a visitor. What leads us to ask: Is the is zoo deathtrap now? Should they instead make it into a theme park with zany rides? Maybe call it "The Haunted ZOOOOOOOOOOO!"?

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.

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.

Paul Dhaliwal--Christmastime tiger attack victim, and currently in the process of trying to sue the city of San Francisco over said attack--might be looking at some time in the clink. After Dhaliwal went on a shoplifting spree last month, which included the brazen act of stuffing of two Wii controllers down his pants, San Leandro cops are recommend seven felony charges be handed down to him. According to the San Leandro police spokesman Lt. Tom Overton (via the San Jose Mercury News):

Looking to get a few bucks out of the city for the Christmas Day tiger attack that claimed the life of their (alleged) friend Carlos Sousa Jr., Amritpal and Kulbir Dhaliwal have filed claims against the city. Finally. And our sources sent SFIst a copy of the claim! (We'll try to get that up for you shortly.)

The San Francisco Zoo announced today that Leanne, the 230-pound Sumatran tiger, is now caring for three newborn cubs. The SF Zoo, which came under scrutiny after last year's tiger-related mauling death of 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., says that this is the first birth of Sumatran tiger for the zoo since 1956. It turns out Leanne had three of the cubs over a week ago, but kept them accidentally hidden from view of zoo cameras. According to the chief of veterinary services at the San Francisco Zoo Jacqueline Jencek:

On Thursday, Juan Zuluaga, 26, was arrested at the SF Zoo following a run-in with a rhinoceros. It seems, according to the Chron, that Zuluaga was busted for throwing acorns at Mashaki, a black rhino:

Let's not think about that mauling incident or the possibility that one or both of the Dhaliwal brothers pissed into the tiger grotto, prompting the Christmas Day attacks. No, instead let's think about the bundle of joy born at the Zoo this past weekend: a little giraffe, right. Sure, it was yesterday's news, but the adorable image was just released, and the story wouldn't have been complete without it. All together now: aw.

A 245-pound Sumatra tiger in Hawaii was found wandering the grounds of the Honolulu Zoo on Thursday morning. it seems she "wandered out of her cage" during closing hours. According to AP (via the Merc):

The big cat grottoes re-open for public view.

Ride your bike at the San Francisco Zoo without fear of ejection or arrest on the BikeAbout tour.

Because Valentine's Day is about necking, red roses, and Whitman's Samplers -- and not about making that special someone your creampie cutie for the night, you perverts -- the San Francisco Zoo's annual adult-only "Zoo Sex Tour" has changed its name to “Woo at the Zoo.” Why? No idea. But the zoo tells us:

Glorious, isn't it?

Due to the "unusual and extraordinary" Christmas Day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo -- which resulted in the mauling death of 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and wounding of Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal -- a three-member tiger team formed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums has been called in to examine the zoo's big cat grotto. While the investigation and renovations are underway, the tigers and lions are currently kicking it indoors. What's more, according to zoo director Manuel Mollinedo, the cats have been subjected to the wonderful world of Disney:

According to today's Examiner, Tatiana will not, in fact, be honored with a gravestone complete old Sicilian widows throwing themselves onto her coffin. Instead, her "body parts will be probed and preserved while the rest, including the tiger’s coat, have already been incinerated. It’s just what happens to all zoo animals after they die."

At about 7:10 a..m. this morning, Lisa, a San Francisco Zoo zebra died. Named Lisa, the zebra was born in February of 1998. (An Aquarian? An even greater loss.) According to a spokesperson at SF Zoo, "reports of [Lisa] salivating while on exhibit in the African Savanna led to an examination by the Zoo veterinarian. The zebra was placed in her indoor stall in the Hoofstock Barn and treated with a common equine medication."

Damn. Ing.

As seen in the graphic above (pulled from the LA Times), and because of last week's fatal attacks, tiger security improvement is needed. Soon. In 30 days, according to the Gate, SF Zoo will have a brand spanking new tiger-grotto security system. The architect who created the zoo's Grizzly Gulch exhibit, Sam Singer, will also now design the safer new tiger grotto. Although no details of the new tiger grotto designed have been released, we're sure "more safe" will be a bullet point or four.

Where to begin? Well, for starters, the page's score set to The Lion King's eleventh-hour song "Circle of Life." While we tend to loathe music set to any page on the webs, this is fitting. And touching. But Tatiana's official postmortem MySpace page offers more than just Elton John-manufactured teardrops. You can find informative links to such items as the transcript to Nancy Grace's show on the tiger attacks, a makeshift memorial of sorts, and more. (Also, according to the site, Tatiana was a Cancer, the moodiest astrological sign of them all. Just saying.)

Behold, the tight-lipped duo who, at this point last week, couldn't have imagined the death and subsequent big-cat madness in store for them today. Under supervision at San Francisco General Hospital, due to severe bite and claw wounds since last Monday, Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23, were released into the wild yesterday afternoon.

Less than a week after the fatal tiger mauling at the SF Zoo, much of the news that has (slowly) unraveled from the Christmas Day tiger attacks has been disheartening. From the downplayed info about the too-short tiger pen fence, conflicting evidence that the three boys taunted the Siberian tiger just before the attack, and that emergency protocol wasn't followed by SF Zoo employees, there are more chin-scratching facts to add to the list. Take, for example, the lack of concern the two brothers felt for their dead friend, Carlos. According to a law enforcement source, as the brothers were being transported from the zoo to the hospital, "one brother told the other not to talk to anyone." The source went on to say that "they were more concerned with their car in the parking lot and that it would be okay." (Sure, people have different reactions in time of grief, but still: Ouch.)

Uh oh.

(Ah, the year of the tiger. OK, month of the tiger. But still.)

Not only was Tatiana a gorgeous, majestic, and endangered creature. It seems that she had a special talent for sniffing out liars, too.

Second verse, same as the first:

Update: The murdered teen has been identified as Carlos Sousa, Jr.