Jun 6, 2008 7:16 pm US/Pacific
SF Zoo Director Quits 6 Months After Tiger Attack
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) ―
The executive director and president of the San Francisco Zoo resigned late Friday, nearly six months after a tiger escaped from its enclosure on Christmas Day and mauled three people -- one fatally.
Manuel Mollinedo's resignation came following a closed-door meeting Thursday of the San Francisco Zoological Society's board of directors.
It also occurred just days after autopsy results were released for 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. of San Jose, who was mauled to death by the tiger last December.
The teen's friends, 19-year-old Amritpal and 23-year-old Kulbir Dhaliwal, were also injured in that attack.
The zoo was criticized for having inadequate separation between the tiger habitat and zoo visitors, and Sousa's parents have filed a claim against the city of San Francisco in connection with his death.
Mollinedo was hired to run the San Francisco Zoo in early 2004, after working to revitalize the Los Angeles Zoo for eight years as its director.
Molliendo and his wife, Marilyn, intend to retire in the Bay Area, said zoo spokeswoman Gwendolyn Tornatore.
"The Board greatly appreciates his efforts and wishes him well in his retirement," Tornatore added.
A member of the zoo's board, Tanya McVeigh Peterson, has been appointed as interim director until a replacement is found.
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