Search Exotic Incidents Database

Two ball pythons, a red-tailed boa and a savannah monitor lizard were stolen fom the The Discovery Center in Fresno. An arrest was made in the case and the red-tailed boa and monitor lizard were found, but the remaining two reptiles have not yet been located.

A father shot and killed the family’s pet wolf-hybrid dog after the animal bit off his 11-year old son’s finger when the boy stuck his hand into the animal’s cage. After killing the animal, the father cut open the stomach to retrieve his son’s finger, but it could not be reattached due to extensive nerve damage.

A 46-year-old Asian elephant named Judy was found dead in her enclosure by zookeepers. Officials released the cause of death as chronic gastrointestinal irritation, a side effect from arthritis treatment.

A seven-foot long Burmese python was removed from a man’s home who claims to have rescued the snake. The man was ticketed for possession of the snake under the Wild Animals Pet law. It is illegal to own a python in New York.

An Eastern black and white Colobus monkey escaped from its exhibit at the Audubon Zoo. The zoo was briefly closed, but the 30-pound primate named Kivuli was safely returned to its exhibit. A review is being conducted to determine how the primate was able to escape.

A man was charged with tampering with physical evidence, failure to allow inspection of captive wildlife, and failure to provide his turtles with a basking platform after the man prevented officers from entering his home and tried to hide some of his reptiles. Florida Wildlife Commission officers found an alligator snapping turtle, a protected species which requires a permit to possess, inside of a washing machine along with other “legal” reptiles such as pythons, lizards and other turtles.

A 17-year old howler monkey named Rose escaped from her enclosure at the Denver Zoo. Rose chewed through her steel mesh enlcosure and was seen in a planter outside her exhibit. Guests in the area were quickly escored out of the building. Zookeepers were able to lure her back into the enclosure shortly after the escape.

A patas monkey named Kyle was euthanized after he suffered a broken leg at the Woodland Park Zoo. The zoo was moving the primate to another enclosure. Kyle also suffered brain damage on Feb. 28 while he was being moved to a temporary enclosure. Back in 2011, his right arm was amputated due to a severe bone infection.

A large snake thought to be a python or boa constrictor was discovered by staff at a downtown Los Angeles storage space used by the homeless. The snake was found among belongings of a woman who hadn’t been to the storage facility in over a week. Efforts to contact the woman were unsucessfull and the snake was turned over to animal services. Nothing was reported on the condition of the snake.

A shark used in a K-Mart commercial died while filming the commercial. The shark was originally transported from New York and allegedly showed signs of distress and stress. American Humane Association was on the set to monitor the shark.