Search Exotic Incidents Database

An escaped 6-ft-long Burmese “pet” python was found slithering through the garden of a local resident.

A “pet” wallaby escaped from his home and was spotted by two residents.

An escaped lynx was caught and returned to its possessor who breeds the animals for sale to circuses, zoos and other commercial exhibitors.

A 50-pound Anubis baboon at the Seneca Park Zoo escaped from his enclosure and was found by a security guard in a fenced area nearby. It took more than two hours to return the baboon to his cage. A veterinarian for the zoo tried to anesthetize the animal with a tranquilizer dart but the baboon climbed into a tree instead of falling asleep. The baboon eventually went back into the exhibit area. The opening of the zoo was delayed by 10 minutes.

A woman lost part of her arm when she was mauled while attempting to pet a caged bear in a private zoo. She was driven to the hospital where her arm was amputated just below elbow.

A 33-year-old woman suffered injuries to her arm when a lioness “owned” by her father attacked her. The lion was shot and killed.

Two Norwegian Fjord horses traveling with Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus died after they were hit by a train while being unloaded from the train in which they traveled. The horses were struck when a freight train unexpectedly went through the area. One horse died instantly, the other was euthanized at the scene.

A college student’s arm was mangled by a caged “pet” bear kept as part of an exotic animal menagerie. The 22-year-old girl’s left arm was amputated two inches below the elbow.

A man visiting the Rio Grande Zoo stuck his finger into a jaguar’s cage, and the cat bit off his finger. The man fled the scene untreated.

A search was on to find an escaped “pet” lion spotted by several residents including police officers.