Search Exotic Incidents Database

A 340-pound gorilla escaped from his room at the Dallas Zoo, raided the kitchen, bit a keeper and then dragged her down a hallway.

A tapir (a large hoglike animal) pulled an Oklahoma City Zoo keeper into her cage and bit her arm off as the keeper tried to feed the animal. The woman also suffered facial injuries and a punctured lung. Although the cause of attack is unknown, the tapir’s baby was also in the cage at the time.

A 5-ft-long “pet” python bit a woman’s fingers as she attempted to pet him. The snake then knotted himself around the woman’s lower forearm and would not let go until firefighters discharged three blasts of carbon dioxide into the snake’s face.

A “pet” cougar was discovered roaming a neighborhood after he had been stolen from his enclosure.

A boa constrictor was found lying in the middle of the westbound travel lane of West Grace Street. Police officers were called to the scene and coaxed the snake into a Supercan closer. The “owner” of the snake was unknown, but the snake was believed to be somebody’s “pet.” The snake was taken to the SPCA to be cared for.

A black leopard attacked a volunteer worker attempting to pet the animal through a cage at Wildlife on Easy Street. The wounds to the worker’s arm required 451 stitches to close.

An elephant with the Commerford Petting Zoo giving rides at New York State Fair panicked, injuring her trainer and a 3-year-old child who fell from the back of the animal.

A gray kangaroo hopped out of her enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo for six minutes after the keeper left the gate open. The kangaroo was herded back into the cage.

A “pet” chimp, Moe, went on a 3-hour rampage after escaping from his cage. Moe bit four people (two police officers, an Animal Control officer and another person). One of the police officers underwent surgery after an infection developed in his hand as a result of the bite.

Gracie, a chimpanzee at the Los Angeles Zoo, found a handhold in the sheer gray rock that surrounded her exhibit. She scaled the wall and got into a planted area, then jumped back into her enclosure after only five minutes.