Search Exotic Incidents Database

A two-foot pet alligator was taken into custody by animal control officers after his owner was arrested on an unrelated warrant.

Freddie Mercury, a 4-year-old macaw, escaped from his owner’s house and eluded capture for over a week. He was captured by two police officers, one of whom was bitten as he grabbed the bird.

Josephine, a 49-year-old gorilla, was euthanized after suffering from several health issues that slowly incapacitated her. She is the grandmother of Harambe, the gorilla who was infamously shot at the Cincinnati Zoo in May, 2016.

A resident photographed a large cat on his property, and police, in consultation with a local exotic animal expert, said the feline was possibly a cougar. The expert said that the cat may have been illegally owned by a resident in the area and escaped.

Lily, an 18-year-old female white-handed gibbon, died. Lily and her parents were transferred to the new gibbon habitat at the end of December, after which zoo staff noticed that she was lethargic and wasn’t eating much food. She was returned to her old habitat for several days to see if she would improve, but she did not.

A zebra from a private collection of animals was found dead and had been skinned. The zebra lived in a herd of 113 zebras at Hearst Ranch. Ranch officials believe the zebra fell into a creek and drowned, and was skinned after it was swept into the ocean and washed up on a beach.

A man stole a 2-foot long black pastel python from A to Z Pets by putting the snake in his pants. The python was returned to the pet store five days later by a man who had purchased the snake then heard about the robbery. The thief has not been caught.

A 4.5-foot-long ball python was surrendered to the Hawaii Humane Society as part of the state’s Amnesty Program. Snakes are illegal in Hawaii.

AJ, a 28-year-old aardvark, died of heart failure.

Malindi, a 25-year-old Grevy’s zebra, was found unresponsive in her exhibit. Veterinarians discovered she had low blood sugar and neurological issues, and made the decision to euthanize her.