Search Exotic Incidents Database

Police searched for a lion reported in a rural eastern area of the city near La Presa Dam. Police and wildlife inspectors attempted to track the animal and determine if it truly was an African lion or a mountain lion.

A woman employed as a biochemical engineer was flagged down by a motorist after he noticed a snake drop from beneath her minivan. The man who observed the snake fall stopped and picked the snake up and took him home to a local avian and exotic animal care facility, where he was treated for some surface burns.

A family’s Burmese python escaped her enclosure, coiled around a 13-year-old child, and threatened her life. The father killed the snake with a knife.

Sandy, an 18-year-old female African leopard, died of cancer. She had been in declining health for a few months, but was euthanized when took a turn for the worse.

A 3-ft-long alligator found on a local street was picked up by Contra Costa Animal Control Services. The Department of Fish and Game was to determine where to relocate the alligator.

A 6- to 7-ft-long boa constrictor was captured in an intersection and returned to his possessor. The snake had suffered minor scale damage after being struck by a car. Police continued to investigate.

A couple faced child endangerment and animal abuse charges after authorities discovered a filth-laden apartment and an array of exotic animals including reptiles, cats, birds, fish, and rodents. Two animals — a bearded dragon and a rat — were found dead.

An emu that had escaped from a possessor’s pen was recaptured by police and Animal Control officers after wandering into a resident’s yard.

A 37-year-old gibbon named Euell escaped from the zoo and bit a man in the parking lot. The zoo said it intends to keep Euell permanently indoors to prevent another escape.

A female dolphin died at the Mirage Hotel in the Dolphin Habitat where she was born on 05/21/97. The cause of death was undetermined. This was the 11th dolphin to die at the Mirage since it opened the Dolphin Habitat in 1990.