Search Exotic Incidents Database

(Fall of 1991) Five orangutans escaped from their enclosure at the Woodland Park Zoo in the Fall of 1991. Two males and three females squeezed through an opening in the enclosure door. The zoo was shut down for three hours while workers used fire hoses and finally tranquilizers to capture the orangutans.

Usal, a 3-1/2-ft-long alligator, escaped and was loose for three days. He was later found and returned to his possessor.

A lion was killed by an Otter Tail County sheriff after escaping from his cage at Archangel Wildlife Farm.

A man was attacked by his “pet” 3-year-old, 160-lb mountain lion. The man grabbed the mountain lion’s tail to prevent the animal from attacking his mother and was subsequently bitten.

A 1-year-old alligator was found wandering the streets.

A “pet” bobcat was recaptured after the animal escaped from his enclosure.

A zebra and a horse with a traveling animal act as part of the Green Meadows Cultural Events show jumped the fence of their corrals. The horse was found a short distance away, but the zebra roamed for two miles before being located in a residential area.

A cougar was found atop a car parked in an auto repair shop. It is believed that the cougar had been hiding undetected in a crawlspace for up to six days. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife believed that the cougar was someone’s “pet.”

Four tigers attacked Allison Asher while she was cleaning their pens on a man’s property. Asher was hospitalized with wounds to the leg and neck.

Tova, a 36-year-old female Asian elephant, kicked her elephant trainer at the Ringling Bros. Circus’s elephant breeding facility. The man was airlifted to the hospital and suffered a fractured pelvis and soft tissue wounds. Tova was disciplined with temporary isolation from her peers. Bruce Read, vice president of animal stewardship for the center, said, “This is normal elephant behavior.”