Mourning Tatiana

Tatiana, a Siberian tiger at the San Francisco Zoo, was shot and killed Christmas Day after killing one man, mauling two others and as she turned to face the officers who had drawn their guns. One man died at the scene and the other two are recovering from extensive bite and claw wounds. Tatiana is no doubt on the table undergoing necropsy to see if any medical explanation can be attributed to her “bizarre” behavior.

As we mourn, we must realize and accept our responsibility: we all killed Tatiana.

In trying to protect Tatiana we placed her in a no-win situation. The threatened species rise to the top of our efforts to save them and we try. We organize, we build, we fund-raise, we become caretakers like we should; but, in our efforts we sacrifice certain animals for the sake of the others. (Spock comes to mind here when he told his friend Captain Kirk, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one…”)

Tatiana lived her life in an artificial environment, a place where we could come and go and ooh and aah at her in her confined existence. What we saw everyday was a beautiful, living wild thing looking ever so ‘comfortable’ in her manmade habitat. What she saw everyday was a seductively annoying smorgasbord. Reports state she did not escape through a neglected door, speculating she somehow managed to scale or clear the fenced enclosure. Then she did what she was born to do: she hunted.

Tigers tend to live as solitary animals, hunting as night approaches, taking down prey then dragging it to a more secluded spot to enjoy their meals without too much interference. Is this what Tatiana was thinking? Night was coming and it was time to hunt? Or was she just angry and annoyed? What were the people doing and thinking when they saw her? Had they taunted her or were they just admiring her? What happened to cause the confrontation between the men and the tigress? We shall never know the true story.

In our best efforts to protect, something went wildly wrong. The calamitous loss of life in both species, man and tiger, is enormous and was perhaps preventable. In any case, it is a tragic series of events, even more poignant with the holiday season. Conservation is necessary, but we must be aware of the sacrifices often made in our efforts to preserve. We must remain vigilant in our mission, taking care with providence, to become the ultimate steward of our world. In that quest, let us remember Tatiana was not a rogue tigress, but a beautiful, if unwilling, emissary giving her life to foster our enlightenment.