Search Exotic Incidents Database

A circus elephant panicked at a high school, ran off for a quarter mile, and damaged a police car.

A man was seriously bitten by his 5-ft-long “pet” iguana. The man’s finger was gnawed to the bone.

Charges leveled by the USDA states a 3.5 year old baby elephant named Kenny died after being forced to perform two shows in one day while ill. The case was settled by agreement and Ringling Bros paid $20,000 to close a USDA investigation.

The “owner” of a 12-ft-long, 95-lb python was charged with harboring a dangerous animal after several complaints had been previously filed. The “owner” left the python, Gidget, soaking in a bathtub in an upstairs apartment. Gidget brushed against the faucet and turned the water on. The tub overflowed and the downstairs neighbor called police.

A tiger with Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus grabbed the trainer by the head and dragged him around the ring, inflicting severe head injuries. As paramedics tried to stablize the victim, his brother shot the tiger in its cage.

A “pet” capuchin monkey bit the neck of a 19-year-old man who was a neighbor.

A baboon at the Octagon Wildlife Sanctuary grabbed a 6-year-old girl, inflicting minor injuries.

A lioness at the Kissimmee Zoo escaped while handlers fixed her cage. She was recaptured after spending two days in a swamp near the zoo.

A man was bitten on the left thumb by his “pet” viper and rushed to the emergency room to receive antivenin. The man required 14 vials of antivenin. The man was helping the snake shed his skin when it bit him. Animal Control officers took possession of the snake.

A man was bitten by his Indian cobra while attempting to milk the snake for its venom. The snake wiggled loose and sank a fang into the man’s pinkie, injecting lethal venom. The man was rushed to the hospital where he received antivenin, which saved his life. This was the sixth time the man had been bitten by one of his ten venomous snakes. The police confiscated all ten snakes.