Search Exotic Incidents Database

A chimpanzee escaped from a local amusement park, snarling traffic and injuring 2 people before being subdued with tranquilizer darts.

A father and his son fell from an elephant they rode at the Indianapolis Zoo. The man suffered a dislocated hip and severe groin injury, later sued for lost wages and trauma from the incident.

A 15-foot-long Burmese python escaped for the third time in a year. It was loose for four days before being found in a nearby work shed. The sheriff’s office wanted to file a civil claim to recover the expense of the search and deter future escapes.

Zoo visitor Rick Swope jumped into the moat of an exhibit to save a drowning chimpanzee. Both he and the chimpanzee survived.

A 12 year old girl suffered minor injuries when a chimpanzee attacked her at a circus sponsored by the Portland Police Association. The chimpanzee was performing on a motorcycle when he rushed into the crowd and bit and scratched the girl.

A circus elephant with Hanneford Family Circus was startled by a passing car while being led to an appearance at a swap shop. The elephant fell on her handler who was crushed to death while the animal struggled to get back on her feet.

JoJo, an elephant that attacked and injured a handler in an earlier incident at Lion Country Safari died after being sedated by zoo workers. The workers were moving her to an isolated holding area.

A tiger being walked on a leash by his trainer at a Phoenix resort attacked a woman visitor, inflicting severe puncture wounds to her leg.

An elephant with the Great American Circus went on a rampage, injuring her trainer and a spectator. According to spectators, just prior to the rampage, the trainer had stuck a hook in her mouth for refusal to cooperate. One spectator told police he saw the trainer hitting the elephant on the side of the head with a 2-foot metal pole after the incident.

Cheyenne, an orangutan at the Kansas City Zoo, escaped from her enclosure by unscrewing four bolts and removing the Plexiglass window. Zoo officials said any human would need a wrench to unscrew the bolts. Cheyenne was tranquilized and returned to captivity and the Plexiglass was replaced with steel.