Police investigating shoeprint in SF tiger attack

Tatiana, a Siberian tiger that killed one person and injured two others, is seen in this undated handout photo. San Francisco police combed the city's zoo on December 26, 2007 for clues as to how the tiger escaped from its enclosure on Christmas and killed one man and wounded two others.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Police are investigating a shoeprint found on the railing of a San Francisco Zoo exhibit from which a Siberian tiger escaped and killed a man in a Christmas attack, the city's police chief said on Thursday.

Chief Heather Fong told reporters police want to know if the print matched the shoes of any of the victims, including two who survived maulings, but said there was no indication yet that they had incited the 350-pound female cat named Tatiana.

"There is a shoeprint on the railing," she told a news conference. "Our forensic analysis will allow us to determine if any of those shoes match the print that is on there."

"We have no information as of this time from the investigation that tells us that someone's leg was slung over the rail," Fong said.

Carlos Sousa, 17, was killed by Tatiana after the caged cat escaped its enclosure, which is separated from the public by a moat. The tiger fatally gashed Sousa's neck and attacked his two friends, brothers age 19 and 23.

Fong said the brothers fled when they saw the cat had killed Sousa, and the tiger caught up with them about 300 yards away at a cafe on zoo grounds. Police found the tiger there and shot it dead.

Zoo director Manuel Mollinedo said at the press conference he believed the tiger escaped by somehow climbing a wall nearly 13 feet high.

The two brothers, whose identities have not been released, were taken San Francisco General Hospital, where officials said they were expected to recover from their wounds.

(Reporting by Jim Christie; editing by Jeff Franks and Todd Eastham)