When Animals Attack: Big Cats

Incidents in 2003    Incidents in 2002    Incidents in 2001    Incidents in 2000    Incidents in 1999    Incidents in 1998    Incidents in 1997    Incidents in 1996    Incidents in 1995-1990

The following is a partial listing of incidents involving captive big cats since 1990. These incidents have resulted in the killing of 87 big cats, 53 human deaths, and more than 180 human injuries. Contact PETA for documentation.

2000:

December 29, 2000/Frankfurt, Germany: A tiger escaped from a circus and caused a 12-mile traffic jam on Germany’s busiest motorway that lasted longer than two hours while he eluded capture by 50 police, firefighters, animal experts, and circus personnel. A helicopter with heat-seeking equipment located the tiger at night, and he was finally captured after being sedated with six shots from an anesthetic dart gun.

December 20, 2000/Omaha, Neb.: A 6-month-old mountain lion cub pounced on the landlord of a rental home that he was checking on after the tenant was arrested for armed robbery.

December 15, 2000/ Calcutta, India: A 30-year-old man, believed to be drunk, was killed by a tiger in front of horrified spectators at the Alipur Zoo when he jumped over a fence into the tiger enclosure. The tiger swiped at the man once with his paw.

December 15, 2000/West Bengal, India: A tiger trainer was mauled to death by three tigers during an act that required nine tigers to jump over her and then pass through a ring.

November 5, 2000/Amberg, Germany: A 5-year-old girl was critically wounded when a tiger/lion mix broke through his cage, knocked down a fence, and grabbed her at a circus.

October 21, 2000/Gambier, Ohio: A 10-year-old boy was knocked to the ground and bitten on the leg by a tiger at the Siberian Tiger Foundation while participating in a "close encounter" at the facility. This was the tenth incident in seven months of people being bitten or otherwise injured by tigers at the facility.

September 21, 2000/Vandalur, India: A zookeeper died after being mauled by a panther at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park. The panther pounced on the keeper and grasped her by the neck while she was cleaning the cage. This was the third keeper to be killed by an animal at the zoo.

September 12, 2000/Brisbane, Australia: Two tiger handlers received stitches after they were attacked and bitten by a tiger prior to shooting a scene for the U.S. television series Beastmaster.

September 10, 2000/Albuquerque, N.M.: A tiger cub bit a man during a photo op at the New Mexico State Fair.

August 26, 2000/Sioux Falls, S.D.: A 14-year-old boy was hospitalized after being mauled by a tiger on his father’s farm. The teenager was hospitalized for more than a month with bite wounds to the leg, neck, and shoulder.

August 12, 2000/Boise, Idaho: A woman was mauled by a tiger at a fundraiser for Zoo Boise after the cat escaped from an unlocked cage. She was hospitalized in serious condition with a broken leg, puncture wounds, and a gunshot wound that she received when police fired their guns to scare the tiger away.

August 7, 2000/São Paulo, Brazil: Police firing machine guns and shotguns killed six lions from a circus after they had escaped from their cage and prowled through the town.

July 12, 2000/Chippewa Falls, Wis.: An employee at the Irvine Park Zoo in Wisconsin was bitten by a cougar after she tried to pet him. She was hospitalized for three days.

June 28, 2000/Rensselaer, N.Y.: A 4-year-old boy underwent plastic surgery for a bite to the neck and two puncture wounds to the face when he was attacked by a 40-pound African serval being taken for a walk. The man walking the cat received several stitches for bite wounds to the hand.

June 12, 2000/Ahmadabad, India: A leopard escaped from a zoo and attacked two construction workers, one seriously, and a cyclist before being recaptured two hours later.

June 7, 2000/Bloomington, Ill.: A man was treated for a 3-inch cut and puncture wounds to his hand, inflicted by a snow leopard after he tried to pet the animal at the Miller Park Zoo. A similar incident occurred at the same zoo in September 1995 when a man suffered a 3-inch gash to his hand when he attempted to pet a leopard.

May 31, 2000/Guyana, South America: A jaguar attacked and killed his handler at the Georgetown Zoo and escaped from his cage. Police later found the jaguar in a nearby shrub and shot him to death.

May 21, 2000/Kiowa, Colo.: A tiger ripped off the arm of a volunteer at a zoo in Colorado.

May 17, 2000/Brewster, Mass.: A 14-year-old girl was attacked by a tiger at a roadside zoo in Massachusetts. The girl, a part-time employee at the zoo, was feeding the cat when he bit her leg and shook her before releasing her.

April 10, 2000/São Paulo, Brazil: Five lions used in a circus devoured a 6-year-old boy after one dragged him away from his father and into the cage inside a tent full of spectators. Police wounded two people with bullet fragments as they sprayed the top of the cage with machine-gun fire to scare the lions off the boy’s body. Four lions were killed.

March 28, 2000/Bohuslän, Sweden: A zookeeper suffered gashes on her head, arms, and shoulders and was rushed to the hospital after being mauled by a snow leopard at Nordern’s Ark. The big cat had torn a pound of flesh from her body.

March 15, 2000/Channelview, Texas: A 3-year-old boy had his arm bitten off by his uncle’s "pet" tiger.

March 14, 2000/Warsaw, Poland: An escaped tiger traveling with a circus attacked a veterinarian before being gunned down by police after a two-hour chase through the streets of Warsaw. The veterinarian was also killed by a bullet meant for the tiger.

February 24, 2000/Kent, England: A keeper at a zoo in Kent, England was bitten on the eyelid by an ocelot while in the cage feeding the cat.

February 23, 2000/Great Bend, Kan.: A high school student was bitten on the hand and arm after sticking her arm into a cougar’s cage at the Brit Spaugh Zoo.

February 3, 2000/Tokyo, Japan: An employee of a company that rented out animals was killed by a tiger at the firm’s breeding compound in Tokyo. The company rented animals to television stations for use in their programs.

January 22, 2000/Rome, Italy: A man who kept wild animals as "pets" was found dead. He had been eaten by one of his lions.

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