Search Exotic Incidents Database

An “owner” transferred possession of her “pet” cougar to an animal shelter after the cougar repeatedly stalked her children.

“Pet” cougar bites hand of woman trying to pet it after being reassured by its possessor that the animal is tame. Bites to hand and forearms cause serious injury.

A “pet” cougar bit the hand of a woman assured by the handler that the animal was tame. Bites to her hand and forearms caused serious injury.

A “pet” tiger became aggressive and scratched two pet store workers and bite another while the tiger was having her photograph taken. The “pet” tiger was one of two owned by the family.

A 8-foot-2-inch-long venomous king cobra escaped its habitat and went into a crevice high above the glass enclosure. Handlers kept watch for hours and tried luring it into its home with rat meat and used a blast of carbon dioxide, but resorted to killing it with a rifle shot to avoid injury to themselves.

A cougar named Missy briefly escaped from the property she was being housed at by jumping over a 10-ft wall after a barrier fence fell down.

A woman flushed her toilet and came face to face with a 6-ft-long boa constrictor. A wildlife expert removed the snake from the toilet. The snake, dubbed Johnny, was a “pet” that found its way into the sewer system.

A “pet” monkey, Angel, bit at least 5 people on separate occasions, including a boy who lived in the neighborhood. Angel’s teeth were removed to prevent further bites.

An elephant attacked an assistant trainer during a training exercise at the Los Angeles Zoo, breaking three ribs and a collarbone.

A 50-year-old man who secretly kept 12 “pet” snakes at his home was bitten by a 1-ft-long poisonous viper on his left index finger while milking it for venom. The man was rushed to the hospital for antivenin. The police confiscated all 12 snakes (8 rattlesnakes, 2 African puff adders, an African rhinoceros viper, and another snake unidentified) and were attempting to relocate them to the Bronx Zoo.