Interesting coverage of the San Francisco Zoo disaster over at Big Cat Rescue. The Big Cat Rescue site begins with this article from Newsweek. Scroll down after that–interesting stuff. The Newsweek article speculates that the zoo’s new changes to the tiger exhibit, combined with human error (possibly because it was closing time on Christmas day), may have to do with the tiger’s escape.

I love the San Francisco Zoo, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, I think the facilities for some of the animals–giraffes, lemurs, and “petting zoo” animals like sheep and goats–are beautiful. But the tiger and bear enclosures are terribly depressing. Recently, the grizzly bear exhibit has been upgraded, but one still sees the Polar bears pacing back and forth in small concrete enclosures right across the street from the steam train (the biggest attraction for small children in the zoo) and the cafe where the attacks occurred yesterday.

I remember seeing the last remaining elephant at the zoo right before my son was born, and being relieved to read the signs saying that the elephant was being removed from the zoo and sent to a better facility. The elephant, like the tigers and bears, seemed to be trapped in a terrible environment, and it is to the zoo’s credit that it chose to remove her to a sanctuary. Now, one tiger and her 17-year-old victim are dead. Perhaps it is time to give the tigers the benefit of a better, happier place to live.