http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-5945927,00.html
Yet again, somebody decided to tempt fate!
from the article:
Mr Oosterweghel said the pair were also carrying a soft drink bottle with alcohol in it and may have been drinking.
“I suspect their judgment was impaired,” he said.
hmmm - ya think so??? 
Today’s news, tomorrow’s scat. 
djm
That’s got to be the understatement of the year!
He probably wanted to say something like “she was acting like a feckin’ idiot and got what she deserved” but had to be politic! 
Redwolf
“Tiger Defends its Personal Space”
Looked like food…acted like prey…sounds like the tiger still had all its instincts going for it.
I can’t say I’m terribly surprised.
I have read a couple of times now, in articles I can’t find for citation purposes, that the reasoning part of the human brain, or something akin to that, may actually mature much later that has been thought. The articles seemed to suggest the reasoning part might not mature until the late teens or early twenties. I must say, although older people do insane things as well, that this girl certainly would support that theory. If you aren’t too drunk to get over walls, I would think you wouldn’t be too drunk to fear a tiger. I don’t know.
I’m not intending to insult younger people! It is just a theory that I have read about a couple of times.
I recall reading this, as well. It has been cited as a reason for delaying issuing driver’s licenses for a few more years. (Maybe a lot more for boys . . .)
Thinking about this, I wonder if people really get the concept that tigers are incredibly dangerous? Most people on this list, I think, have a grasp of it, but a lot of people just aren’t all that smart.
Perhaps we’ve communicated an incorrect view of tigers and other wild animals through Disney movies and cereal commercials.
I feel sorry for the girl and her family, as they will have to live with the physical and financial effects of her actions for the rest of their lives, and that’s a mighty long time. But, at least she lived.
Think about what you consider “average intelligence”…and then realize that to make it average, about half the people in the world have to be below that. I don’t know if that particular girl was considered “smart” by her peers, but she sure acted foolishly.
There was a special on the Discovery channel about a year ago about this brain stuff when the research finally made it into the popular media. There is a portion of the brain involved in perceiving the future, of looking ahead, that doesn’t fully develop until humans are in their early to mid twenties. It is thought that this portion is what helps us see the possibility of getting hurt/killed more clearly. Instead of being a vague concept, we are able to plan ahead, including realizing that we really could be hurt by certain behaviours.
Kids and teenagers can listen to the words of warning, but can’t really conceptualize the meaning behind the words. It all gets filed under a nebulous concept like DANGER but has no literal meaning to them. Those who have learned to trust the concept to stay away from anything labelled DANGER will be okay, but those who don’t strictly pay heed to it can and do put themselves into very risky situations.
djm
Reminds me of a guy I know who’s had drug and alcohol problems. An interviewer was talking to the guy about his past problems:
Interviewer: "So you’re allergic to alcohol?
Guy: (laughs) “Yeah, every time I drink, I break out in handcuffs!”
Loren