SAN FRANCISCO — A tiger escaped from its cage at the San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday, killing one visitor and injuring two others, police said.
The tiger was shot to death when it started moving toward a group of approaching police officers, said police spokesman Sgt.
Steve Mannina. Several officers shot it with handguns, he said.
It was not immediately clear how the tiger escaped.
The attack happened in a cafe at the east end of the zoo shortly after the 5 p.m. closing time, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The tiger cages are near the center of the zoo.
Officials at first worried that four tigers had escaped, but only one got out of its pen, Mannina said.
Last December, one of the zoo’s tigers mauled a zookeeper during a regular public feeding. The 350-pound animal reached through the cage’s iron bars and badly lacerated her arm. The zoo’s Lion House was temporarily closed during an investigation.
