for the love of fame and money

Tiger attack
1/8/2008 4:28 PM
SAN FRANCISCO -- Since the deadly tiger escape at the San Francisco
Zoo, its director has come under increasing criticism over his track
record and his suggestion that the victims brought the attack on
themselves by taunting the animal.

The lawyer for the two of the visitors mauled in the Christmas Day
attack is threatening a defamation lawsuit over what he claims is a
despicable blame-the-victim strategy on the part of the zoo, and
animal rights activists have long accused Zoo Director Manuel
Mollinedo of putting too much emphasis on showmanship.

"We've asked for his termination," said Elliot Katz, president of In
Defense of Animals.

So far, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which accredits the
nation's zoos, and the San Francisco zoo's overseers are standing by
Mollinedo.

"Since Manuel joined us in 2004, the zoo is in better physical and
financial shape than it's ever been," said Nick Podell, president of
the San Francisco Zoological Society. He praised Mollinedo's handling
of the attack.

AZA spokesman Steve Feldman added that Mollinedo is "well-liked and
well regarded" within the industry.

Before coming to San Francisco, Mollinedo was widely praised for his
work at the long-neglected Los Angeles Zoo, even though a dozen
animals slipped out of their enclosures during the course of a year.

Mollinedo was the unanimous choice over more than 100 candidates for
the San Francisco job. He makes about $330,000 a year in salary and
benefits, and under his leadership the zoo has seen increased
attendance, new corporate sponsors and refurbished exhibits at the
Depression-era facility.

Then came the Christmas Day tiger attack. The 350-pound Siberian tiger
apparently jumped over a 12-foot wall around its pen and killed
17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. His friends, brothers Kulbir Dhaliwal,
23, and Paul Dhaliwal, 19, were severely mauled.

At first, the zoo's response seemed confused and disorganized. Police
radio transcripts reveal that zoo employees initially questioned
whether early reports of the attack were coming from a mentally
unstable person.

When questioned by reporters, Mollinedo gave an inaccurate figure for
the wall's height, putting it at 18 feet. Then, two days after the
attack, he acknowledged the wall was only 12 feet or 4 feet below the
recommended national standard.

Several days after the mauling, the zoo hired Sam Singer, a prominent
San Francisco Bay-area crisis-management specialist. Acknowledging
that the zoo had bungled its initial response, Singer adopted a new
strategy.

Soon, the public and the media's attention turned from the competence
of zoo officials and the substandard tiger exhibit to the victims'
behavior leading up to the escape.

At a news conference, Mollinedo suggested "something happened to
provoke that tiger to leap out of her exhibit."

A rash of false information soon emerged in the media, including
reports that the victims had slingshots and had been drinking in an
establishment near the zoo.

Singer admitted on Tuesday that he told reporters about the slingshot
rumor, but said he was passing along information he had heard
elsewhere. He denied planting the rumor about the bar.

"Police are investigating accusations of the use of a slingshot and
the possible use of stones, pine cones, or other pieces of wood or
that may have been used to taunt the tiger," Singer said Tuesday.
"That's fact."

A police spokesman told The Associated Press last week that
investigators quickly dismissed the slingshot allegation as
inaccurate.

Singer was recently hired by the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association
after a cargo ship hit a bridge and spilled oil into San Francisco Bay
in November. He also handled Jack in the Box's hamburger contamination
scare in the mid-1990s, and recently represented Mayor Gavin Newsom's
former campaign manager, who resigned after his wife had an affair
with the mayor.

Mark Geragos, the lawyer for the mauled survivors of the tiger attack,
lambasted his tactics as "an abomination" and threatened to sue for
defamation.

"To be attacked by a tiger, number one, then to be attacked viciously
by false and defamatory stuff is too much," Geragos said.

In a letter to the city attorney Monday, he also said zoo officials
knew that the wall around the tiger habitat "couldn't hold a house
cat," but they did not do anything about it because of financial
concerns.

Singer said no one at the zoo was aware of such a warning.

Animal rights activists have long accused of Mollinedo of putting
entertainment over animals' well-being.

"There just been a lack of respect for the animals to increase foot
traffic," Katz said. Mollinedo's crowd-pleasing initiatives, such as
public feedings of big cats, have made them more aggressive, he said.

Mollinedo had previously clashed with the organization over the
conditions in which its elephants were kept. Two of the animals died
in 2004.

The escapes from the Los Angeles Zoo during Mollinedo's tenure
included a gorilla that bent a steel door, a howler monkey that sprang
over a surprised keeper, and a snow leopard that got out of its
holding area when a zookeeper failed to secure the door. All the
animals were recaptured and no people were injured.

Several experts said such incidents are not unusual, although a dozen
in a year from one zoo appears to be a high number. The American Zoo
and Aquarium Association withheld the zoo's accreditation for a time,
but it was for poor management and health and safety violations prior
to Mollinedo's arrival.

City officials in Los Angeles praised Mollinedo for helping to turn
their zoo around. He raised money to revamp the disease-ridden,
cramped facility, refurbish animal quarters, and a build a new
hospital.

City officials in San Francisco have also defended Mollinedo's leadership.

"He's been a very effective leader," said David Lee, a recreation and
parks commissioner. "The zoo is an old institution, very traditional,
and some felt it hadn't changed much until Manuel came up. He brought
innovation, new ideas, and everyone benefited from that, people and
animals."

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