SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 18, 2008
Darshan singh
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.
Kulbir told police that the we all had smoked pot and that each
had couple shots of vodka. They had marijuana in their systems,
and Paul Dhaliwal's blood alcohol level was 0.16- twice the legal
limit for driving, Kulbir Dhaliwal's blood-alcohol level was 0.04%
and Sousa's was 0.02%
The zoo spokesman Sam Singer said, "Clearly there's the
lesson to be learned here and the lesson is that it's not a good
idea to drink, it's not a good idea to be high on dope, and it's
not a good idea to taunt a man-eating tiger. Authorities were
weighing whether to seek criminal charges against the Dhaliwals.
A criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles, Mr. David Kestenbaum
said, "The investigators could be pursuing misdemeanor charges
related to possessing marijuana, trespassing or giving alcohol
to a minor. I don't see a felony based on the facts that are public
at this point."
The court did not allow examining the car's contents, but permitted
an inspection of the phones because any photos stored on them
within an hour before and after the tiger got of its enclosure
might shed light on what led up to the attacks.
The wildlife biologist Marc Bekoff, a professor emeritus of ecology
and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder
said:
- If you are going to have an animal like a Siberian tiger or
other predators, you have to protect the public.Taunting or
not, I just think it's incumbent on the AZA and the zoos to
have taunt-proof cages.
- Taunting is common at zoos and 20 to 25 percent of zoo visitors
taunted the animals
Dhaliwals's lawyer, Mark Geragos said, "They have presented
no evidence of a crime and the brothers didn't taunt the tiger,
also noted that the affidavit does not specify any possible counts.
Basically, they're arguing that if you go to the zoo and wave
at the animals, you get the death penalty and that's just nonsense."
Taunting probably is not the sole reason for the attack.The wall
surrounding the tiger's open-air enclosure was four feet lower
than recommended by the AZA.
