Minnesota tiger expert shocked, saddened by zoo killing

Minnesota tiger expert Ron Tilson lost a member of his family on Christmas.

Her name was Tatiana, the 4-year-old Siberian tiger shot to death Tuesday by police at the San Francisco Zoo after the 350-pound animal escaped her enclosure, killed one patron and mauled two others.

"It was very personal," said Tilson, director of conservation at the Minnesota Zoo and the man responsible for breeding Tatiana and roughly 250 tigers in more than 200 zoos throughout North America.

Tilson produced Tatiana by breeding her parents at the Denver Zoo four years ago. He also placed Tatiana at the San Francisco Zoo last December so she could breed with a tiger there named Tony.

He said he was shocked to hear the news Wednesday from his wife, who woke him to tell him of the incident.

"My wife said, 'You better get up, you're going to have a long day,'" Tilson said Thursday. "I came to work, and she was right."

During the past two days, Tilson has been glued to the phone, reassuring the public about the safety of zoos and answering questions about the attack from reporters at news outlets all over the world.

Tilson said that prior to Tuesday, no tiger had ever escaped from its enclosure at a zoo to a public area.

"My initial reaction was disbelief," he said. "I assumed it was human [error] because that's usually what happens -- someone leaves something open. I couldn't believe that this tiger leaped out."

Last year Tatiana mauled a zookeeper who got too close. Tilson, who has been running the breeding program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) since 1987, agreed with the decision not to put her down after that.

"Tigers are large, dangerous predators," he said. "If you get too close to them, they are going to hurt you."

Tilson said the AZA and the Minnesota Zoo will look at the security of tiger exhibits in light of the San Francisco attack. He said the Minnesota Zoo, which at one time housed 25 tigers and now has six or seven, exceeds the AZA recommendations for tiger wall heights and moat widths.

Tilson, who saw his first tiger at the San Francisco Zoo while in college 40 years ago, said he is waiting to hear how exactly Tatiana got out -- and why. He and other animal experts are wondering whether the three victims might have been taunting the tiger or getting too close to her Tuesday.

"Tigers are strictly hands-off management," he said. "You don't touch the tiger, you don't pet it, you don't put a leash on it and take it for a walk or tickle it. You stay away from it."

Herón Márquez Estrada • 612-673-4280