Search Exotic Incidents Database

A “pet” chimpanzee bolted from a vehicle after unbuckling his seatbelt and unlocking the door. The Intersection in town was closed off for two hours until his possessors and police were able to corral him back into the car. No injuries were reported.

A 44-year-old man was found dead in his garage, the apparent victim of a bite from his “pet” Gabon viper.

Several residents reported seeing a large cat, possibly a cougar, roaming the area for days. The animal was thought to be someone’s exotic “pet” turned loose.

A woman captured on her video camera what appeared to be either a black panther or a cougar in Girard Borough Park. The animal was likely someone’s “pet.”

Tigger, a 6-year-old, 500-lb Bengal tiger at Keepers of the Wild animal sanctuary, attacked a 21-year-old employee who went to pet him while cleaning his pool. Tigger bit her on leg and dragged her across the ground. Another employee used a steel rack to get Tigger off her. Three of Tigger’s canine teeth went completely through her leg and she spent five days in the hospital.

A 400-lb “pet” Bengal tiger bit his owner, Antoine Yates, on the arm, sending the man to the hospital. The tiger and an alligator were confiscated from the possessor’s apartment. Yates was sentenced on 10/07/04 to five months in jail for reckless endangerment.

During a magic show at the Mirage Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas, Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy was mauled by Montecore, a 7-year-old, 600-lb white tiger. When Montecore latched onto Horn’s arm, Horn tapped Montecore on the head with the microphone. The audience of 1,500 watched Montecore drag Horn offstage by the neck. The attack opened an artery in Horn’s neck. Show workers set off fire extinguishers backstage to distract the tiger. Horn remained in critical but stable condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Little Joe, a 5-foot-tall, 300-pound gorilla, escaped from his cage at the Franklin Park Zoo by scaling a 10-foot-wide, 12-foot-deep moat, getting past electric wire, and leaving the zoo grounds just before closing. During the escape, Little Joe attacked an 18-year-old woman, throwing her several feet in air, stepping on her, dragging her, and biting her on her back. The woman was holding a 2-year-old girl who was snatched out of her arms and slammed to the ground. The child, whose front teeth were pushed back, was hospitalized after doctors stitched up her head. Little Joe was found two hours later, sitting at a bus stop, and was recaptured using tranquilizer darts as a crowd of more than 100 people watched. This was Little Joe’s second escape from the zoo this year.

A “pet” timber wolf bit an 8-year-old child on the left calf.

An escaped South African caracal cat was recaptured by an Animal Control officer after a confrontation with a German Shepherd dog.