Search Exotic Incidents Database

Two tigers at Keepers of the Wild animal sanctuary attacked a woman such that she requireed surgery. The owner of the sanctuary apparently did not report the incident, but the USDA found out and opened an investigation into the attack.

A wild cat was spotted roaming a neighborhood near a school. Suspicions were that the animal was either a mountain lion or other large cat.

A 2-1/2-year-old male bongo antelope died at the Toledo Zoo just one day after he broke his rear leg in a panicked run that included jumping a fence and ending up in the moat of the rhinoceros exhibit. Witnesses said the antelope panicked after he butted into an electrified wire and his horns became entangled in wire. He also had abrasions on his face. This incident came nine days after an impala was euthanized due to a broken back that occurred while zookeepers loaded the antelope into a trailer for transfer to another zoo.

Koza, a 5-month-old male lion cub, was mauled by an adult lioness at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park after a keeper mistakenly removed a wire barrier separating the cub from the adult lion. The attack severely damaged the cub’s spinal cord and the cub was euthanized. A park spokeswoman said removal of the barrier was “human error.”

A female rhinoceros hornbill died at the Toledo Zoo from what officials believed was heart disease. The zoo had been trying to breed her.

The owner of a nature preserve was bitten by an 8-ft-long alligator and dragged 15 feet into the water after he tried a stunt of jumping on the alligator’s back for a ride and wrestling the alligator. The man suffered a shattered pinky, broken ring finger, and puncture wounds to his hand. Despite the incident, he stated that he wss unlikely to give up alligator wrestling.

A horse at Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament trampled a group of students during a field trip, causing injuries to seven children and one adult. Four children were hospitalized.

A 500-lb Bengal tiger attacked and killed a 52-year-old woman named Cynthia Gamble on her property, where she kept many tigers. A man hired to do work on the property found her mauled body in a pen. Officials were forced to euthanize the tiger to reach the woman’s body, and the tiger was discovered to be 100 lbs underweight. The USDA had inspected her facility on 05/18/05 and cited her for failing to prove her animals were being fed an adequate diet. No follow-up was conducted before the death of the woman.

A man crashed his car after his snake had wrapped around his neck and began attacking him.

A big cat, thought to be a tiger, was spotted roaming in a local community.