Search Exotic Incidents Database

Calgary, Canada – Calgary Zoo officials confirmed on Wednesday that the recent death of a two-year-old gorilla was an accident resulting from human error. Eyare, a female western lowland gorilla, died at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo last week. The zoo’s investigation into the death included internal and external experts, and interviews with staff involved in the incident.

The animal’s death occurred last Tuesday around 9 a.m., when a gorilla care team member intended to activate a door that would separate Eyare from other animals for an individual training session, said Colleen Baird, zoo director of animal care, health and welfare. Eyare had been roaming around and interacting with other gorillas. The worker mistakenly activated the wrong door, resulting in the gorilla being struck by the door and sustaining traumatic head injuries, Baird said.

The gorilla team retrieved Eyare and immediately attempted to use life-saving care, including CPR, but the gorilla died from her injuries shortly after 9:30 a.m.

Zoo officials confirmed the doors were operating correctly at the time of Eyare’s death. The zoo’s gorilla care team will now participate in additional annual training that confirms their ability to use hydraulic doors that are designated for animal use.

Thrasher, TN – A Tennessee woman shot a vervet monkey she said tried to attack her, according to police. The monkey later died from his wounds at the Chattanooga Zoo.

The woman, whose name was not released, went to feed her cats Thursday afternoon in Thrasher, Tennessee, when the monkey approached her and tried to attack her. The woman said she recently had hip surgery and tried to get away from the monkey.  She told police she went to get her shotgun from her house to defend herself.

Officers found the wounded monkey in the driveway and transported it to the Chattanooga Zoo to be treated. A zoo spokesperson said the monkey arrived Thursday evening and was moved into the animal hospital. Unfortunately, due to the severity of the monkey’s wounds, the best course of action for the animal was humane euthanasia,” Jake Cash, the spokesperson for Chattanooga Zoo, confirmed to CBS News.

The Soddy-Daisy Police Department did not say whether the vervet monkey was a pet or if it had an owner, but local media reported the monkey had a collar.

Piedmont, OK – After more than two months of searching, an Oklahoma woman’s pet tortoise was found, only about 100 feet from home. In late August, Cherrie Zaidi put her two African Spur Tortoises, named Phineas and Ferb, outside of their Piedmont, Oklahoma, home, as she usually did. Normally, she explained, she would check on them every couple of hours. One day, she got preoccupied on a phone call. By the time she was able to go look, Ferb had shimmied his way under an area of their fence. From there, a search was on.

It had been nine weeks and four days without Ferb by the time her husband found him about 100 feet into a field behind their home.

Durango, CO – Officers were surprised when a 911 caller reported a “baby kangaroo with a diaper on” wandering around a major city street. The chase was short lived, and the kangaroo was quickly caught without incident.

The diaper indicated to the officers that the animal was likely a legal exotic pet, and quickly managed to track down the owner and return the kangaroo safe and sound. The department posted about the incident on their Facebook to “make light” of the situation, which could have been deadly for the young kangaroo wandering around the busy streets.

Chicago, IL – A rare, endangered exotic cat was captured after being reported on the loose in the north suburbs. Hoffman Estates police captured the caracal at a home after several days prowling the neighborhood near Hilldale Golf Club.

Officers surrounded a resident’s home just after 8 a.m. Tuesday after one of her neighbors spotted the feline on her back patio and called the police. The cat retreated under the deck as police closed in; officers eventually used a tranquilizer rifle to sedate the animal and then cage them. Luckily, the caracal was not harmed, police said.

It took nearly a dozen officers more than two hours to finally corner the feline. Now, the cat is headed to the Valley of the Kings Sanctuary and Retreat in Sharon, Wisconsin.

Florence, SC – A man who owned more than a dozen snakes remains in serious condition days after one of the venomous reptiles bit him at his South Carolina home, according to the Florence Police Department. As he recovers, the 14 snakes that were seized from his home were killed, police said Tuesday morning in a news release.

Police said they tried to avoid euthanizing the venomous snakes, but none of the facilities that police contacted to care for the reptiles would accept them because of potential health and safety issues that the snakes could introduce.

The euthanized snakes included two Gaboon vipers, two Black Forest cobras, two adult rattlesnakes, two neotropical rattlesnakes, a single green mamba, Fer-de-Lance, death adder, Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, an unknown small rattlesnake, and an Inland taipan, according to the release.