Search Exotic Incidents Database

Attempting to evade the zoo workers chasing her, a stray dog jumped into the tiger pit at the Memphis Zoo. The dog was attacked by one of the tigers, sustaining puncture wounds to her neck and shoulders. She was taken to a local Veterinary hospital for treatment.

Masai, a 17-year-old African lioness at Zoo Atlanta, was reported as being in guarded condition after being diagnosed with severe anemia, which was discovered following treatment for an upper respiratory infection in December. A 14-year-old male Sumatran tiger, Jalal, was also reported as recovering from an illness that had induced spasms of vomiting that began two days prior.

According to a citation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, two leopards named Thunder and Rosebud had visible injuries. Thunder had open wounds on his tail, while Rosebud was hunched over in an abnormal posture and had an open wound on her tail. Nick Sculac, owner of the zoo, failed to report the injuries or seek veterinary treatment.

A young zebra jumped out of the back of a moving trailer and crossed US 41, running into the Heron’s Glen Community before being recaptured by a local Animal Control officer. The zebra suffered injuries. Workers employed by the Shell Factory Zoo declined to disclose where the zebra was being transported.

A young male tiger was found shot to death along Interstate 35 near Dallas. Officials received an anonymous tip and found the tiger lying on the road. The tiger wore a collar and leash and had been shot five times. The tiger was taken to the Dallas Zoo where a necropsy showed that he had been in good health at the time of his death. State and federal officials were investigating.

Tatiana, a Siberian tiger, escaped from her enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo. She killed one visitor and mauled two others before being shot and killed by police officers. The zoo was closed temporarily out of respect for the victims and an investigation was undertaken to determine how Tatiana escaped. Her enclosure had been fortified following an attack on a zookeeper in 2006, and had only been re-opened since September. In that 2006 incident, Tatiana seriously injured a zookeeper during a regular afternoon publicly viewed feeding. The zoo was later ruled responsible for that incident by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA), who blamed the incident on poor training and the way the tiger enclosure was designed. (see previous incident of 12/22/06)

Actress Christina Ricci told Parade Magazine that she had to face her primate fear recently as she co-starred with a monkey, Willie, in the upcoming movie, Speed Racer. The monkey freaked out and grabbed her left breast. Her co-actors eventually helped remove the monkey.

A resident of Holland Township was shocked to find the body of an armadillo lying on the road. It was suspected that the armadillo was someone’s “pet” as armadillos are not native to Michigan.

The landlord of a local duplex found an American alligator abandoned in a small aquarium. The occupants were recently evicted. Animal Services officials attempted to place the alligator in an animal refuge in Anacortes called Predators of the Heart. The alligator was second such animal taken in by Animal Services.

A Montgomery County judge overruled a county animal board and ordered that a “pet” monkey named Armani, seized from a Rockville woman in May, be returned to her. The judge also ordered police to reimburse thousands of dollars the woman incurred to have a zoo in Thurmond care for the monkey.