Grrrrrreat

Every so ofter an article is written with a terrific quote. But this recent gem, was a Christmas horn of plenty.

Horrified zoogoer recalls tiger attack Keeper's mauling a reminder wild animals can turn vicious at any time, experts say

"The tiger ate her hand. It slowly proceeded to eat the rest of her arm." -Vikram Chari describing the horrifying spectacle that he and his 6-year-old son witnessed at the San Francisco Zoo on the Friday before Christmas

"I think most of the right arm doesn't exist anymore, what was left was hanging in strings. The tiger didn't eat in a very clean way." -said Chari, 40, who lives in San Francisco and owns a telecom business

"It looked like she was trying to stop the pain, except that there was no arm where she had reached," Chari said.

"He's always scared that there are tigers under the bed at night, so this confirmed his suspicions," Chari said regarding his 6-year-old son Krishna -- who feared tigers even before the attack. "He said when we left the zoo, 'The next time, let's see the penguins being fed instead of a tiger eating a woman.' I did not want to scare him by saying that this was unusual."

"I remember it absolutely," he said. "It left an impression on me forever. It was like a great big cat. Christ, I didn't know they got that big." -Ronald Tilson, director of conservation at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley

Tilson has handled more than 700 tiger immobilizations -- he's tattooed them, collected their sperm, artificially inseminated them and performed root canals. He's spent so much time with the cats that now he's allergic and breaks out in hives.

"They have all the different personalities you could think of," he said. "Some of them you want to take them home and watch TV with, some you're just terrified of. But you never let your guard down. Anyone who says they know tigers, why don't you call Roy Horn and ask how he's feeling?" Animal trainer Horn, of Siegfried and Roy, was mauled by one of his tigers