Search Exotic Incidents Database

A “pet” Capuchin monkey bit an elderly woman.

A 6-year-old girl was attacked by a “pet” cougar while playing outside a friend’s house. The cougar was on an 8-ft chain leash bolted to the floor when he attacked the girl. The girl required 12 stitches.

A lion at the Mesker Park Zoo mauled a zookeeper, causing severe injury to the keeper’s right arm. The keeper was attempting to move the lion to an outdoor exhibit when the attack occurred.

An elephant walked out of her performance at the Texas State Fair and into an intersection filled with spectators, causing a traffic jam.

A “pet” wallaby was on the run after escaping from her pen.

A man’s 4-year-old daughter found him slumped at the bottom of a stairwell, unconscious and foaming at the mouth, after he was bitten by his snake.

A “pet” African serval cat roamed the city for a day before authorities recaptured it and returned it to its “owner.”

An African rock python escaped from its unlocked cage and asphyxiated a 3-year-old boy. The python was a family “pet.” The parents of the boy were charged with child endangerment and unlawful possession of a dangerous animal.

A “pet” chimp, Moe, bit the finger of a 43-year-old woman after she stuck her finger in his cage during a visit. This is the same chimp that bit 4 people on 08/16/98.

A black bear cub with Swenson’s Wild Midwest Exotic Petting Zoo was taken to a barnwarming where reportedly it nipped people. The bear died two weeks later of rabies after having potentially infected more than 400 people.