On Christmas Eve 2007, a female tiger escaped in the darkness of closing hours in the San Francisco Zoo, and moments of horror ensued. There were many, many unanswered questions, including why Tatiana attacked the specific young men (and hunted them across the zoo grounds), why it happened even though she was full from her dinner, and much more. Emmy award winning documentarian and local San Franciscan — and personal friend, Anna Fitch — made a monumental documentary to try and understand why and how this happened, along with exploring the nature of these incredible cats. Narrated by Peter Coyote, it was only shown on National Geographic TV, never to be seen again until finally being put Nat Geo’s website this week.
Beside the frustration of Nat Geo being so proprietary we had to wait, I’m glad they’re catching up with the rest of us and making the valuable media part of the cultural conversation by the ridiculously simple act of putting it online.
I can’t recommend watching this highly enough. It’s riveting.