Search Exotic Incidents Database

An emaciated 5-foot jungle carpet python was found in a Myrtle Beach motel room by a maintenance worker. Animal Control was called, but upon learning that the snake would be euthanized, an individual familiar with snakes, Russell Cavender, was called. Russell took the snake to be rehomed. It is believed that the snake had been kept in captivity all its life.

Two harbor seals (named Nunavut and Atlantis) on their way from a Canadian theme park, Storybook Gardens, to the St. Louis Zoo died in transit. The two seals were part of a group four seals being transported. One seal was discovered dead enroute, and another ailing seal was taken to Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, which was the closest zoo. The second seal died at the zoo. A third seal, Cri Cri, was transported to the Indianapolis Zoo, which employes a staff of marine mammal specialists. Cri Cri was diagnosed as having severe exertional myopathy, a form of muscle-tissue damage caused by stress. The prognosis was not good. A fourth seal, Peanut, was able to travel through to the St. Louis Zoo and appears to be healthy.

Zoo officials do not know what went wrong in the 12-hour drive.

A woman faces criminal wildlife charges after she bought a monkey to help draw out her autistic son. Kentucky wildlife officials charged Collins with propagation, holding of wildlife without a permit, and tampering with evidence after she sent the monkey away for safekeeping. Officials want to see the monkey to test for hepatitis-B. The monkey is now at an undisclosed sanctuary.

Two wolves kept as pets escaped their enclosure. One was shot and killed that day, the other wolf killed a pet Boston terrier on June 14th, then was captured on July 8th by a snare trap set by the wolf’s guardian. Charges may be pending.

A man was trying to sell or give away two bear cubs displayed at a gas station. The man claimed he shot the mother in self defense when the family of bears came onto his property. The man claims the mother bear ran away after being shot. Although officials found blood on the property, they could not find the bear and she is presumed dead. CA Fish and Game officials are trying to validate the man’s story. The cubs were confiscated by Fish and Game and will be rehabilitated, hopefully to be released back into the wild. They are thought not to be ideal candidates because they have now been around humans.

A western mountain lion being kept as a pet escaped its enclosure and killed a neighbor’s dog. The cougar was returned to its enclosure – no legal actions have been taken to date.

A New Bedford landlord discovered an alligator and a pit bull while he was clearing out an abandoned apartment. The animals were being kept as pets, then abandoned. The former owners will be charged with possessing an illegal animal and animal cruelty. The alligator was taken to a sanctuary and the pit bull to a rescue group.

Rinny, a 4-year-old Malayan tapir, was found wandering outside her enclosure in the Toyota Elephant Passage. She escaped by squeezing between cables that surrounded her space. A gate to her home area was opened and she walked back inside after 5 minutes.

A Lucerne Valley man was in critical but stable condition after he was bitten by a rattlesnake he had been keeing as a pet for over 10 years.

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium announced its 3-and-a-half month old baby gorilla died over the weekend. Cause is still unknown. He was the first gorilla born at the zoo since 2001.