The crowd besieged the zoo gates, thousands of the hooded, masked and unmasked, armed with hammers, crowbars and petrol bombs, the gates were twisted, hammered, exploded and burnt. Eventually the crowd surged through an opening and poured into the unprotected zoo. Far away a police superintendent made the decision to do nothing, targeting stretched resources on the Bank of England.

The riot leaders, following the commands of organisers far away, ran to where they were ordered, to steal the animals for which there was a market: exotic spiders, snakes and lizards. The more organised had thought to bring cages to carry them in, protective gloves to handle them and even metallic grips with which to carry their prey.

Others seized animals merely for fun. Penguins were stolen as potential bath time pets, many others were stolen to be sold on for food, and across London for the next week or so certain low-quality restaurants were best avoided for all but the most exotic taste-bud.

But the looters forgot the purpose of cages. Yes they are there to keep the animals enclosed, but they are also there to protect. To protect the public from tigers and lions and other animals with tooth and claw, poison, stealth and strength.

One foolish boy, raised to ignore the notion that actions have consequences, forced open the door of the tiger compound. He strolled inside, assuming himself king of his new domain, free to grab whichever animal he saw and catch it for sale. He understood neither the law of the land nor the law of the jungle.

In the panic caused by the riots the keepers had been unable to get to the zoo for a day and a half. The animals were hungry and alert, and in the case of the tigers, alert and on the prowl, crouching in the corner waiting for the opportunity…