Tiger victim's family to sue zoo

SAN FRANCISCO, July 1 (UPI) -- An attorney for a California teen killed by an escaped tiger at the San Francisco Zoo says he'll file a negligence lawsuit against the city.

Michael Cardozo of Walnut Creek, Calif., said the family of Carlos Souza Jr., who died when a 250-pound Siberian tiger named Tatiana leaped from its enclosure on Christmas Day and mauled the 17-year-old to death, is accusing the city and the nonprofit operator of the zoo of allowing a wrongful death.

"The city ought to build a river through the zoo and call it the moat of denial," Cardoza told the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News. "They denied anything ever happened the first time Tatiana bit somebody. When they undertake to house dangerous animals, the law says they are liable."

The first step in the civil action happened Monday when the city denied a preliminary claim made by Souza's family. It has also rejected claims by two other teens mauled in the same incident.

The tiger was killed by police. The zoo has increased the height of a barrier around the tiger enclosure after it was determined Tatiana had jumped over it in the attack.