Tiger attack victim admits taunting, police say

SAN FRANCISCO - One of the three victims of San Francisco Zoo tiger attack was intoxicated and admitted to yelling and waving at the animal while standing atop the railing of the big cat enclosure, police said in court documents filed Thursday.

Paul Dhaliwal, 19, told the father of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, who was killed, that the three yelled and waved at the tiger but insisted they never threw anything into its pen to provoke the cat, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.

"As a result of this investigation, (police believe) that the tiger may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims," according to Inspector Valerie Matthews, who prepared the affidavit. Police believe that "this factor contributed to the tiger escaping from its enclosure and attacking its victims," she said.

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. "When they got down they heard a noise in the bushes, and the tiger was jumping out of the bushes on him (Paul Dhaliwal)," the documents said.

Police found a partial shoe print that matched Paul Dhaliwal's on top of the railing, Matthews said in the documents.

The affidavit also cites multiple reports of a group of young men taunting animals at the zoo, the Chronicle reported.

Mark Geragos, an attorney for the Dhaliwal brothers, did not immediately return a call late Thursday by The Associated Press for comment. He has repeatedly said they did not taunt the tiger.

A call to Sousa also wasn't returned.

shut down all the zoos. it's unethical anyway!

Ah! But! Pippa Where is the gene pool when we have destroyed the animals in the wild?

I am close to two zoo's / parks who are reintroducing animals back into their correct habitat.
But yes I agree that the old concept of zoo's must end!

Lots of talk always about hunting & poaching which is cruelty against animals... for some reason Zoos are accepted across the globe! One may say because the animal does not get killed; yes but being closed behind bars in a small cage for its whole life is better and okay...! Perhaps there are some places that re introduce animals to place back into the wild but I think 99% of zoos are for money makers. Normal that the odd lion or tiger goes for a break if its sees a chance to escape; we would do the same.

Original von Nico
Lots of talk always about hunting & poaching which is cruelty against animals... for some reason Zoos are accepted across the globe! One may say because the animal does not get killed; yes but being closed behind bars in a small cage for its whole life is better and okay...! Perhaps there are some places that re introduce animals to place back into the wild but I think 99% of zoos are for money makers. Normal that the odd lion or tiger goes for a break if its sees a chance to escape; we would do the same.

nico, i fully agree!
here in germany - and all zoos do it - e.g. get lion cubs drowned if they have a "surplus" and no other zoo is in need! also the "european program for species protection" is rubbish and just serves one purpus: making money!
always have species died out! we should make use of our human intelligence in order to save all these wonderful creatures as long as they are roaming freely!

we would not place aboriginees or yanomami behind bars because they are on the edge of extinction! why shall we do such horrible things to animals? only because we have the power to do it? ETHICS is not a thing which we cannot afford when it comes to animals!

keeping animals in enclosures in order to show them off to children is not reason enough for such a torture! as the kids cannot watch them behaving normally a goog book on animals behaviour would be a perfect substitute!

i always loved the big cats, elephants etc.....long before i was able to watch them in the wild! as child i refused to visit zoos and circus because as a little one i could not bear to see them behind bars. even as a small child i naturally felt that it was not right to keep them that way! it's a matter of education and sensitivity i guess.

better ONE DAY free than a thousand behind bars!

Pippa - Well said!