Search Exotic Incidents Database

A 320 lb lioness named Maddie escaped her enclosure by scaling a 12-foot fence. 260 children from four schools and about 300 other visitors were evacuated. Maddie was shot with a tranquilizer dart and recaptured inside the zoo in about an hour.

A horse traveling with Circus With a Purpose “went berserk” and tipped over a children’s cart, causing panic. Twenty children and two adults were treated for injuries.

The National Zoo’s baby elephant, Kumari, died after a 4-day illness. The cause of the 16 month old Asian elephant calf’s death was not immediately known. She had bounced back from a shaky start in life.

Lions killed and partially devoured a woman who entered their enclosure at the National Zoo. Her death was later ruled a suicide.

Seven lions and tigers toppled onto the freeway after their trailer came unhitched; one tiger on the loose for four hours. The animals were on their way to a Home Depot store for a photo shoot.

A lion cub was found tied to the front gate of the St. Louis Zoo. The lion was declawed and wearing a collar. Evidently the lion was someone’s “pet.”

An elephant with the Tarzan Zerbini Circus stepped on a circus employee, causing a crushed pelvis. The incident occurred as workers loaded animals and equipment following the close of the circus.

A 200-lb tiger named Shawana escaped and spent 10 days at liberty before being captured.

A “pet” skunk, Squirt, being treated for a leg injury at a veterinarian’s office, bit the vet’s assistant. Squirt was de-scented, neutered, and vaccinated. Animal Control officers seized the animal and euthanized him.

A 4-ft-long python, Creeper, wrapped himself around the spindles of a 1-year-old girl’s crib. Creeper had apparently slipped into the girl’s room through a hole in the apartment wall. Creeper’s possessor lived next door. Police captured the snake and place him in a box in the back seat of a patrol car. Creeper escaped box and was nowhere to be found. Police later found the snake dead in the police car.