SAN FRANCISCO -- A man has been cited for misdemeanor animal taunting for allegedly tossing acorns at a rhinoceros at the San Francisco Zoo, police said Friday.
Juan Zuluaga, 26, was arrested, cited and released after the incident Thursday, authorities said.
The zoo has stepped up its warnings against harassment of animals after the Christmas Day tiger attack that left one young man dead and two others injured. Among other steps, it has posted signs telling patrons not to annoy the animals.
Police said they were summoned to the zoo at 3:30 p.m. Thursday after a patron reported to officials that Zuluaga was picking acorns off a branch and tossing them at the black rhino, a male named Mashaki. Zuluaga was with another man, who was not cited.
The animal appeared unfazed, police Sgt. Steve Mannina said.
Zuluaga told authorities that he had been trying to get the rhino's attention, said Lora LaMarca, spokeswoman for the zoo. "He tried whistling at (the animal), then grabbed a branch and took acorns off it," she said.
The person who saw Zuluaga had reported the incident by calling a hot line number on one of the recently posted signs, LaMarca said.
Before the Christmas Day tiger attack, it was unusual for citations to be issued for animal taunting, LaMarca said. Typically, offenders were simply escorted out of the zoo, she said.
"Of course, we are at a far higher level now," she said.
As for Zuluaga, she said, "He's an adult. He should know better."
In the tiger attack, one of the two survivors told the dead teen's father that the three had been standing on a metal rail of the tiger grotto, waving and shouting at the animal.
The Siberian tiger got out, fatally mauled 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., and wounded brothers Kulbir and Paul Dhaliwal, all of San Jose. No one has been charged in that case, and police have shelved their investigation.
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