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(UL)Roping A Deer
(Hmmm)Tiger, not lion, kills 1, injurs 2
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Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Tiger, not lion, kills 1, injurs 2

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Darwin says, "This *seems* like a Darwin Award story, but maybe I'm too close to it, have heard about it too many times, in too many variations, on the radio and in the newspapers. I can't seem to summon the muse, to write the story. Thanks all for the numerous submissions."
SAN FRANCISCO -- Police believe that a fatal tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo was in part prompted by the victims provoking the animal into escaping its enclosure and mauling them, investigators said in court documents.

One of the three victims was intoxicated and told another victim's father that they were standing atop a railing and yelling and waving at the tiger shortly before the Christmas Day attack, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle late Thursday.

The affidavit, which requested a search warrant for the cell phones and car of brothers Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal, also cites multiple reports of a group of young men taunting animals at the zoo, the Chronicle reported. Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, was killed in the mauling.

"As a result of this investigation, (police believe) that the tiger may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims," wrote 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 wrote.

Toxicology results for Paul Dhaliwal, 19, showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.16 percent after the attack -- twice the legal threshold for drunkenness -- while the blood alcohol level of Kulbir Dhaliwal, 24, was 0.04 percent and Sousa's was 0.02 percent, according to the affidavit.

All three also had marijuana in their systems, the documents said. Kulbir Dhaliwal told police that the three had smoked pot and each had "a couple shots of vodka" before leaving San Jose for the zoo on Dec. 25, Matthews wrote.

Police found a small amount of marijuana in Kulbir Dhaliwal's 2002 BMW, which the victims rode to the zoo, as well as a partially filled bottle of vodka, according to court documents.

Investigators also recovered messages and images from the cell phones, but found nothing incriminating in connection with the tiger attack, the Chronicle reported.

The affidavit includes an account by Sousa's father, Carlos Sousa Sr., who said he spoke with Paul Dhaliwal after the attack. The elder Sousa said the teen told him the three stood on a 3-foot-tall metal railing a few feet from the edge of the tiger moat, and "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 papers said Paul Dhaliwal told Sousa that no one was dangling their legs or throwing things at the tiger, which authorities believe leaped or climbed out. Zoo officials say the enclosure walls were 12½ feet tall -- 4 feet lower than the recommended minimum.

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

Calls to Sousa and Michael Cardoza, an attorney for the Sousa family, also weren't returned.

Sam Singer, a spokesman for the zoo, told the AP he had not seen the documents but believes the victims did taunt the animal, even though they claim they hadn't.

"Those brothers painted a completely different picture to the public and the press," Singer said. "Now it's starting to come out that what they said is not true."

Submitted on 01/20/2008

Submitted by: dorei jewl
Reference: January 18th, '08

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

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>> Moderator Scores <<

Chip said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
We earlier rejected this story because there just was no proof that the young men were taunting the big cat. Now the truth is in: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,323714,00.html The tiger was indeed being taunted and therefore I will vote Yes on this one. Thank you to all who originally sent us this story.


Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I'll vote for this one now that more details have finally come out. I do still blame the zoo partially because the walls were shorter than recommended, but in the end it was entirely due to the idiocy of these three that led up to the tiger attack. Even if the walls were 4 feet higher (as reports apparently recommend) there's no guarantee that the tiger still couldn't have gotten out. Taunting a wild animal is extremely stupid. Thanks to everybody for all the submissions.


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