Search Exotic Incidents Database

A 21-year-old woman was hospitalized with severe injuries after one of two “pet” black bears attacked her right hand when she reached inside the bears’ cage. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources investigated the attack to determine if the possessors were properly licensed.

Officials safely recaptured an escaped African Serval cat near a mailbox in a Catalina Foothills neighborhood. The cat was in bad shape, dehydrated and tired. An examination showed that her feet were very sore and that a rear leg had been surgically removed. The cat was being cared for at the Tucson Wildlife Center but another facility would have to be found for her.

A Bengal tiger who drew attention last year after escaping from an animal sanctuary in northeast Indiana died. Park officials became concerned about India after she began shunning food. During surgery, it was discovered that she had advanced cancer and she was humanely euthanized.

A spider monkey bit a zookeeper and evaded would-be captors for several hours at the Riverside Zoo, forcing its closure. The zookeeper’s bites were treated at a local hospital. The three other monkeys were coaxed back into their exhibit and the escaped male was found near the exhibit at around 1:00pm.

Buki, a 52-year-old former circus elephant, is in declining health according to officials at the Buffalo Zoo. Zookeepers are making modicifications to her diet but she is losing weight and her appetite and her kidney function has also been affected.

Tweet, an 18-year-old giraffe at the Franklin Park Zoo, collapsed and died while feeding. Tweet starred in the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and numerous commercials for Toys-R-Us. A necrospy was scheduled to be performed.

An 11-ft-long python was briefly missing from his possessor’s home. Police found the snake but would not return him because it is illegal to possess exotic animals in city limits.

A 4-year-old child suffered a minor laceration to her right cheek after she was struck by a deer at Southwick’s Zoo. This was the second incident involving a deer-related injury at the zoo in a month.

Two Burmese pythons, one 17-ft-long and the other 11-ft-long, were removed from a Florida home. The resident told police officials that he owned the snakes but did not have the required permits to keep them. Charges were filed against the resident.

A 6-ft-long alligator was found near Jordan Park. Authorities may never know how the male alligator ended up in the park. The alligator was turned over to a reptile farm in Marshalls Creek in Monroe County.