Search Exotic Incidents Database

A “pet” arctic fox was found roaming the neighborhood. The fox had a collar and was litterbox trained.

A “pet” deer escaped and was loose in the streets. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources stated that the deer could not remain in the wild and that the “owner” must recapture the animal.

An 11-ft-long Burmese python was found along a busy state highway. The snake was run over by a car and rescued by a passerby. The snake was probably an abandoned “pet.”

A 4-ft-long python was found on a woman’s back patio. The snake escaped from a neighboring house.

A “pet” bobcat roaming around a neighborhood was caught after he jumped into a garbage can near a hotel. The bobcat was thin and declawed.

Health officials linked eleven cases of E. coli infection in children to a petting zoo at Merrymead Farm. Eight children were hospitalized, and six developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can lead to kidney damage.

A “pet” bobcat escaped from an exotic “pet” show after her cage slipped off a cart and the cage opened. The cat was seen roaming an Eastside neighborhood and was subsequently recaptured.

A tiger at the Siberian Tiger Foundation bit a 10-year-old boy on the leg. The boy and his father had paid to enter the compound for a “close encounter” with Siberian tigers chained to posts. The boy was treated at a local hospital and released. According to the USDA, ten instances of people being injured by tigers occurred in the previous 9-month period at this facility.

A “pet” panther on the loose and was spotted on three separate occasions throughout a residential neighborhood.

Evelyn, a gorilla at the Los Angeles Zoo, used overgrown honeysuckle vines to pull herself out of her enclosure and wandered the grounds for an hour until subdued by a tranquilizer dart. All patrons were evacuated and no visitors or staff were injured in the incident.