Search Exotic Incidents Database

A 2-year-old North American otter named Bonnie and her 2 pups died unexpectedly of salmonella poisoning. The zoo director said the otters appeared fine the day before and then became extremely ill. The zoo’s remaining two adult and two young otters were placed in isolation as a precaution.

An intoxicated man was filmed allowing his friend’s pet alligator to bite his nipple.

Police responded to a report of a missing pet snake, described as being a one-year-old Colombian red tail boa constrictor, approximately 5 feet long and 2 inches in diameter.

Police and animal officers pulled a young 2-foot alligator out of Maple Lake. It is believed the gator was owned as pet then dumped into the lake. An exotic reptile handler was given temporary custody of the animal.

A 4-year-old boy fell into the enclosure of a 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe. Harambe dragged the boy through the enclosure’s moat, and a team from the zoo responded by shooting and killing the gorilla. The zoo later argued that tranquilizing him would have posed too great a risk to the boy.

Gina Henry’s pet 5 1/2-foot ball python, Debo, escaped. The snake has not been found.

A pregnant sea lion at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium died after zookeepers tranquilized the animal when she was claiming another sea lion’s newborn pup as her own. She was tranquilized shortly after the zoo opened, leaving spatters of blood in the partially drained pool as a few zoo guests watched. She came to and started calling out to her family. Keepers stayed with her for 30 minutes, then left to check on the pup. When they returned 10 minutes later, the sea lion was dead, about two hours after being tranquilized. A necropsy showed that her unborn pup had died a day or more prior.

A woman was hospitalized after being injured by her pet kinkajou. Animal Control staff said the woman has three of the animals in her home, and has the proper permits.

A zoo euthanized a male wolf named Rebel after he nipped a child’s hand. A worker left a gate to an off-limits area of the zoo open. Several visitors took advantage of the open gate to go into the staff-only area and get up close to the wolf pack. While one mother was taking photos, her four-year-old son stuck his fingers through the enclosure’s chain-link fence. After the child’s parents declined to get rabies shots for him, the Division of Public Health mandated that authorities kill the wolf so rabies testing could be conducted. The test came back negative.

Kiki, a male Canada lynx, was euthanized after a year of declining health.