Search Exotic Incidents Database

Two elephants leased by the Hawthorn Corporation to Circus Vazquez rampaged through a church. Two church members were nearly trampled, and children were quickly ushered to safety. The elephants crashed into the church through a glass window, broke and buckled walls and door frames, and knocked a car 15 feet, causing an estimated $75,000 in damages. The elephants suffered cuts and bruises. One of the elephants had rampaged twice before (see 07/10/95 and 05/19/95).

A woman at a bar was bitten by a “pet” monkey on both of her hands which resulted in 16 puncture wounds.

A man bitten by a coral snake was in stable condition after receiving antivenin. It was uncertain how the man was bitten by the snake, but it was presumed that the snake was his “pet.”

A 6-ft-long python was found outside a woman’s home. The snake apparently escaped from his enclosure. This was the third time the snake escaped that week.

A “pet” monkey escaped and was on the loose.

Two rhinos battled at the Brownsville Zoo, resulting in the death of one and serious injury to a maintenance worker. A female rhinoceros and two male rhinos were mistakenly put together in an exhibit meant to have two females and one male.

A 10-1/2-ft-long albino boa snake latched onto a man’s wrist. The snake was subsequently killed to free the man.

A 3-year-old boy was killed by his step-grandfather’s “pet” tiger. The tiger grabbed the boy by the foot and took off running.

A man’s “pet” Burmese python escaped from his cage and killed and devoured the man’s 30-lb pit-bull terrier puppy.

A 7-ft-long alligator escaped from his home for the second time in two months. The alligator, Boots, was found sauntering down a street. Boots escaped from his chain-link-fenced yard.