Search Exotic Incidents Database

A leopard with the Great American Circus jumped out of the ring and bit a 3-year-old girl on the neck.

A keeper at San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park was kicked in the head and killed while attempting to break up a fight between two elephants.

An elephant at the Oakland Zoo kicked to death the handler cleaning his pen.

A chimpanzee escaped from a local amusement park, snarling traffic and injuring 2 people before being subdued with tranquilizer darts.

A father and his son fell from an elephant they rode at the Indianapolis Zoo. The man suffered a dislocated hip and severe groin injury, later sued for lost wages and trauma from the incident.

A 15-foot-long Burmese python escaped for the third time in a year. It was loose for four days before being found in a nearby work shed. The sheriff’s office wanted to file a civil claim to recover the expense of the search and deter future escapes.

Zoo visitor Rick Swope jumped into the moat of an exhibit to save a drowning chimpanzee. Both he and the chimpanzee survived.

A 12 year old girl suffered minor injuries when a chimpanzee attacked her at a circus sponsored by the Portland Police Association. The chimpanzee was performing on a motorcycle when he rushed into the crowd and bit and scratched the girl.

A circus elephant with Hanneford Family Circus was startled by a passing car while being led to an appearance at a swap shop. The elephant fell on her handler who was crushed to death while the animal struggled to get back on her feet.

JoJo, an elephant that attacked and injured a handler in an earlier incident at Lion Country Safari died after being sedated by zoo workers. The workers were moving her to an isolated holding area.