Zoo director feels the heat after tiger attack

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.

Cats more aggressive now?
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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