Search Exotic Incidents Database

A 22-year-old man was bitten by his pet Gaboon viper, a venomous snake, and was listed in critical condition. The Gaboon viper can produce the highest volume of venom and has 2-inch fangs so it can get the venom in deep. Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Division officers found more than two dozen reptiles in the victim’s home. Local police are looking into possible nuisance violations.

A boa constrictor slithered out of a recently bought used chair. The snake was returned to its owner, the seller of the chair.

A rare 13 year old Indian Star tortoise disappeared fromthe Cheyenne Mountain Zoo; authorities believe he may have been stolen.

A roughly 20-inch long poisonous Egyptian cobra escaped from an enclosure outside public view at the Bronx Zoo. The Reptile House remained closed as a precaution while zoo workers searched for the missing reptile.

Update: Cobra recaptured 3/31/2011.

A 7-year old pet capuchin monkey escaped from its cage while being unloaded at the vet’s office. The monkey was later recaptured.

A female giant panda wandered out of its enclosure at the San Diego Zoo and bit one of its keepers. The keeper was treated at a local hospital, but the name and extent of injuries were not released.

A Capuchin monkey escaped and was found 2 days later in a neighbor’s tree. The possessor claimed that the monkey escaped during a break-in of her home. The possessor, who possessed the proper license for the monkey, was able to coax the monkey down and into a cage.

An Indian gaur, a type of wild cow, escaped its enclosure at the Zoo Miami and entered into the dromedary camel exhibit. The camels got stressed, started running around, and one elderly female camel fell down and sustained injuries. The gaur was corralled and returned to its enclosure. The camel was later euthanized due to her injuries sustained in the fall.

Yin, a red panda, collapsed and fell from a branch attached to her house. She was treated by the zoo’s on-site veterinary clinic but didn’t survive.

State wildlife agents confiscated four monkeys, 3 marmosets and a patas monkey, from a TX woman and FL man, who were subsequently convicted of cruelty to the monkeys who they dressed up as pirates and brought on to Bourbon Street in New Orleans before Mardi Gras, and for not obtaining permits. The woman claimed that the monkeys were service animals, which the state didn’t buy. The judge ordered them to forfeit the monkeys to the state of LA. Upon confiscation, the monkeys had diaper rashes and diarrhea.