Revenge of the Tigers

Like everyone, I was shocked by the bizarre mauling of the 17 year old kid, who found himself being clawed and chewed to death by the world’s meanest predator, on Christmas Day, in the middle of the most cosmopolitan and progressive city in the western world.

From the online reactions I came across as I researched the event, the Bay Area public seemed to be split between militant vegans who already believed all zoos are inherently evil and should be closed down immediately, and others who simply believed that the San Francisco Zoo, as a substandard, poorly managed facility, was to blame.

However, as the story’s facts leaked out bit by bit a far more interesting angle emerged. No print reporter employed within five thousand miles of California would come out and say it explicitly, but, every account released suggested the same thing in between the lines: perhaps the victims were to blame.

The first few stories, on December 26th (the day after the attack) had quotes from celebrity zookeeper Jack Hanna, speculating that someone had taunted the tiger into making the improbable leap out of the cage. On December 27th, a few more clues were added to the stories: a footprint on the railing, a bloody shoe inside the enclosure (a report that has since been denied), concrete stuck in the back claws of the tiger as it pushed its way up the wall of the enclosure.

It isn’t politically correct to point the finger at three young people. Not when one is dead and the other two are in the hospital. Not when the parents of the victim are still on the center stage, mourning their loss and preparing for a massive lawsuit. And, as we have recently learned, perhaps the wall wasn’t as high as it should have been. But the fact is the enclosure was built during the Depression and had held tigers at bay for 67 years.

The image of three brats mocking the caged beast only to have the tables turned in the most real and violent way possible is too good to ignore. If tigers made movies, Tatiana would be a hero along the lines of a Rambo or Cool Hand Luke. Against all odds she righted the injustice of the world she was trapped in.

Of course, in our litigious and overly polite society, the focus from here on out will be on the low wall and the organizations that deemed the enclosure safe. The parents of the boys will all receive fat checks and a thousand apologies. But behind closed doors, away from the public ear, people will talk about the real story: how three young men got what they were asking for, and how all of our lawyers and walls can’t remove us from the dangers of the physical world.