September 30, 2012 Warrenville, IL A boa constrictor was found in a neighbor’s yard and taken to a rescue center. The snake is believed to have been a former pet. Reptiles
September 28, 2012 Mastic Beach, NY A man found an 2.5-foot alligator in his front yard and turned it into the county police. The alligator is believed to have been set loose. Reptiles
September 28, 2012 Vienna, VA Meghan Mogensen, the director for the Reston Zoo, was found guilty of drowning a wallaby in a plastic bucket. A curator testified that animals had been euthanized in shocking ways at this zoo including rabbits getting slammed into walls, shootings, and chickens being fed to pythons. Other
September 27, 2012 San Diego, CA Nakai, an 11-year old killer whale at SeaWorld was injured during a performance. The whale was treated by veterinarians. Details of the injury has not been disclosed. Marine
September 27, 2012 Montague, MA A ball python, believed to be a former pet, was found near a bike trail. Reptiles
September 24, 2012 D.C., DC Washington D.C.’s National Zoo announced that their 14-week old giant panda cub died of unknown causes. The cub appeared healthy and zoo veteranarians found no signs of trauma or sickness. Bears
September 24, 2012 Kansas City, MO A woman was startled after she found a boa constrictor wrapped underneath her car. Officials were called to extricate and take in the animal from the car. The owner was unknown. Reptiles
September 21, 2012 Bronx, NY A man jumped from a monorail at the Bronx Zoo and landed in the tiger habitat where he was attacked by a tiger. He suffered severe deep cuts to his back and severe injury to the leg and was taken to the medical center where he was listed in critical condition. Big Cats
September 20, 2012 Waukegan, IL A worker picking up trash discovered a 12 to 15-foot albino Burmese python outside an industrial building. The female snake was suffering from open wounds along the entire length of its body that had weakened her to the point where she had to be euthanized. Because officials had not received any reports of missing snakes, it’s believed that the python was dumped near the lake when it was no longer wanted. Reptiles
September 20, 2012 Portsmouth, VA Animal control officers responding to a call for a stray dog instead found a menagerie that included two 50-pound turtles, 23 smaller turtles, a 4-foot venomous canebrake rallesnake, an eel, a shovelnose catfish, and a ove-bird parrot. Five of the turtles were dead. The animals appear to have been abandoned and were taken to the Portsmouth Humane Society. Reptiles