22 January 2008

Tatiana the tigress - murdered and unjustly maligned

From the day this story exploded, I had my doubts about the mumbling and stumbling version of events that became official after a few days: that of an unmotivated attack by a murderous tiger on a group of innocent viewers. Something didn't smell right. It takes more than just a sight of a human being to make a sated and well cared for tiger to go out of its way to murder.

And gradually the truth has started to come out.

Paul Dhaliwal, 19, told the father of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, who was killed, that the three yelled and waved at the tiger...

Sousa's father, Carlos Sousa Sr., said Dhaliwal told him the three stood on a 3-foot-tall metal railing a few feet from the edge of the tiger moat.


Toxicology results for Dhaliwal showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.16 -- twice the legal limit for driving, according to the affidavit. His 24-year-old brother Kulbir Dhaliwal and Sousa also had alcohol in their blood but within the legal limit, Matthews wrote.

All three also had marijuana in their systems, Matthews said.
So, on one side we have three idiots with too much alcohol and marijuana in their system, reeking of both and taunting the tiger. On the other side - an animal in its prime with fantastic sense of smell and all the killer instincts. Yes, the enclosure could have been higher - probably...

Notice also that the tigress didn't attack just anyone after escaping from the enclosure - she targeted the miscreants only.

So, here we have one of the survivors:

There are about 6.5 billion more where this one comes from.

And here we have Tatiana:

There are only a few hundred of her clan left on this planet.

Just don't ask me what my choice would be, if and when, OK?

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