It's about time too!  This is a great article about endangered apes fighting back.

World's Most Endangered Gorilla Fights Back The Wildlife Conservation Society will begin new surveys on the Cross River gorilla, the rarest subspecies of gorilla which was recently observed throwing sticks and grass at humans. (Credit: Copyright Wildlife Conservation Society) ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2007) — In the wake of a study that documented for the first time the use of weaponry by Cross River gorillas to ward off threats by humans, the Wildlife Conservation Society has announced new field surveys to better protect this most endangered great ape. The study, published earlier this year in the Journal of Primatology, found several instances of gorillas throwing sticks and clumps of grass when threatened by people. Gorillas usually flee and rarely charge when encountered by humans. Cross River gorillas are restricted to Nigeria and Cameroon. They number only around 300 individuals, making them the most endangered of the four gorilla sub-species. The Wildlife Conservation Society, which has studied Cross River gorillas since 1999, will begin new field surveys next month in an attempt to catalogue all potential gorilla habitat. Earlier this year, the Wildlife Conservation Society released an action plan to safeguard Cross River gorillas that included creating additional protected areas and raising awareness of this little known great ape. The observations of weapon-use took place in the proposed Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary in Cameroon -- one of the new protected areas recommended in the report. In 2005 the Wildlife Conservation Society documented the first case of tool use among gorillas when researchers discovered individuals using sticks to check the depth of streams before crossing them. The surveys are being funded in part by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Adapted from materials provided by Wildlife Conservation Society. Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats: APA MLA Wildlife Conservation Society (2007, December 11). World's Most Endangered Gorilla Fights Back. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 27, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/12/071205122539.htm#

 Great.  Before you know it they'll be using bows and arrows and we'll be onto a full scale battle for the planet! lmfao

 Good thing cats don't have opposable thumbs, huh?

That Tiger the other day took a bite out of that giy un the zoo - whoa nelly!

 Evidently that tiger who escaped had bitten a handler prior and  developed a somewhat unhealthy appetite for human flesh.  The whole affair is tragic.

It's somewhat reminiscent of Kirkegard's "Concept of Irony" -- the tiger biting the hand that fed him so to speak. ;)

 I feel sorry for the tiger.

Does anyone know how the tiger got out?  I've heard experts say there's no way it could have jumped, but then I heard that it did.  Maybe the person was dangling his leg low enough for the animal to latch onto it and then climb over and out.

 The tiger leapt. The wall was too low.  Cats can jump real high when provoked.

Told ya that tiger was pissed off at those guys.

 
S.F. locates evidence in tiger attack case

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Officials say there is potential evidence supporting the idea that three young men may have provoked a Christmas Day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo.
    
The Siberian tiger somehow escaped from its enclosure and attacked the three. One was killed and the other two were injured before police killed the big cat.

The San Francisco Attorney's office said apparent evidence of drug use was discovered in the car the three men had driven to the zoo the day of the deadly mauling.

Although there is no direct evidence the victims teased or taunted the animal, the San Francisco Chronicle said Friday that drug use could support the theory and help defend the zoo and the city in pending civil litigation.

The newspaper said investigators also located evidence that could link the men to foreign objects found in the tiger's enclosure.

 YUP - really pissed off!

Police: Tiger attack victim was drinking, admitted taunting

• Story Highlights
• Search warrant affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle
  
• Paul Dhaliwal told victim's dad the three yelled, waved but didn't throw anything
  
• Toxicology results showed the three had alcohol, marijuana in their systems
  
• Police: The three climbed off railing, heard noise, "and the tiger was jumping out"
  
  

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- One of the three victims of a San Francisco Zoo tiger attack was intoxicated and admitted to yelling and waving at the animal while standing atop the railing of the big cat enclosure, police say in court documents.

Paul Dhaliwal, 19, told the father of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, who was killed, that the three yelled and waved at the tiger but insisted they never threw anything into its pen to provoke the cat, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained Thursday by the San Francisco Chronicle.

"As a result of this investigation, (police believe) that the tiger may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims," according to Inspector Valerie Matthews, who prepared the affidavit. Police believe that "this factor contributed to the tiger escaping from its enclosure and attacking its victims," she said.

Sousa's father, Carlos Sousa Sr., said Dhaliwal told him the three stood on a 3-foot-tall metal railing a few feet from the edge of the tiger moat. "When they got down they heard a noise in the bushes, and the tiger was jumping out of the bushes on him (Paul Dhaliwal)," the documents said.

Police found a partial shoe print that matched Paul Dhaliwal's on top of the railing, Matthews said in the documents. Watch how a victim's desperate 911 call was handled »

The papers said Paul Dhaliwal told Sousa that no one was dangling his legs over the enclosure. Authorities believe the tiger leaped or climbed out of the enclosure, which had a wall 4 feet shorter than the recommended minimum.

The affidavit also cites multiple reports of a group of young men taunting animals at the zoo, the Chronicle reported.

Mark Geragos, an attorney for the Dhaliwal brothers, did not immediately return a call late Thursday by The Associated Press for comment. He has repeatedly said they did not taunt the tiger.

Calls to Sousa and Michael Cardoza, an attorney for the Sousa family, also weren't returned.

Toxicology results for Dhaliwal showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.16 -- twice the legal limit for driving, according to the affidavit. His 24-year-old brother Kulbir Dhaliwal and Sousa also had alcohol in their blood but within the legal limit, Matthews wrote.

All three also had marijuana in their systems, Matthews said. Kulbir Dhaliwal told police that the three had smoked pot and each had "a couple shots of vodka" before leaving San Jose for the zoo on Christmas Day the affidavit said.

Police found a small amount of marijuana in Kulbir Dhaliwal's 2002 BMW, which the victims rode to the zoo, as well as a partially filled bottle of vodka, according to court documents.

Investigators also recovered messages and images from the cell phones, but apparently nothing incriminating in connection with the tiger attack, the Chronicle reported.

Sam Singer, a spokesman for the zoo, said he had not seen the documents but believed the victims did taunt the animal, even though they claim they hadn't.

"Those brothers painted a completely different picture to the public and the press," Singer said. "Now it's starting to come out that what they said is not true."