
Dec 26, 2007 8:25 pm US/Eastern
Timeline Of Notable Tiger Attacks In Recent Years
(CBS)
You might be surprised to learn there have been plenty of attacks by tigers in recent years. Here's a timeline of some notable attacks that made world headlines, dating back to perhaps the most famous attack on illusionist Roy Horn. A link to a more comprehensive list of attacks from tigers and other exotic cats can be found at the end ot the list.
12/25/07 - Tiger escapes its cage at the San Francisco Zoo, kills one visitor and mauls two others. The same tiger was responsible for the 12/22/06 mauling of a trainer almost exactly a year ago at the zoo. The exhibit was shut down afterward, but had just reopened again in September.
12/19/07 - Two rare Royal Bengal tigers killed a 50-year-old man who stuck his arm into the cat's cage to take a close-up picture of it with his cell phone. The tigers severed the man's arm after he jumped over a protective barricade.
12/3/07 - A tiger at a Southern California animal sanctuary run by actress Tippi Hedren mauled a 40-year-old caretaker who was cleaning its cage, critically injuring him. The victim was bitten in the neck at Shambala Preserve, an 80-acre wildlife habitat in Acton, in the high desert northeast of Los Angeles.
7/15/07 - A tiger at a San Antonio zoo mauled a 28-year-old trainer, biting him on his neck, arms, legs, and face, and shattering his leg. The attack happened in a caged, non-public area.
5/10/07 - In British Columbia, a 32-year-old woman was mauled to death by a captive tiger at an exotic animal farm while at least three children watched in horror. The woman, Tanya Dumstrey-Soos, even spoke with her fiance, Kim Carlton, the owner of the farm, by cell phone as she lay dying after the attack.
2/9/07 - A Royal Bengal tiger attacked a man trying to feed it at Bangladesh's Dhaka Zoo, seriously injuring him. The mauling happened when he took raw meat into the enclosure at lunchtime.
12/22/06 - A 350-pound Siberian tiger attacked and injured her trainer at the San Francisco Zoo as at least 50 visitors looked on. A man who watched the attack happen says the cat devoured most of the woman's right arm. The tiger did not let go until a zoo employee jabbed her in the head with a long pole.
07/02/06 - A tiger mauled a well-known animal performer at a Moscow circus during a show, a circus spokesman said Sunday. Doctors gave Artur Bagdasarov nearly 100 stitches for slash and puncture wounds, but the wounds were not life-threatening and the performer was conscious
04/06/06 - A rural Minnesota woman who kept tigers on her property and even bred some wild cats was mauled to death by a Bengal tiger in its pen. The 500-pound tiger was said to be so out of control, it had to be euthanized so authorities could get to the woman's body.
12/18/05 - A man was found dead inside the cage of a tiger at a South Africa zoo. Investigators believe the man, a zoo visitor, climbed into the cage where the cat mauled him to death.
08/18/05 - A Siberian tiger attacked and killed a 17-year-old girl who was posing for a picture at an animal sanctuary in Mound Valley, Kansas. The victim, Haley Hilderbrand, was at the Lost Creek Animal Sanctuary posing for a photo with the 7-year-old tiger, which was being restrained by its handler, when the animal turned and attacked her. Officials and handlers killed the animal.
03/10/05 - An Amur tiger mauled a worker to death at zoo in the Ukraine capital, Kiev, when she entered to clean its cage. The worker, identified as a 23-year-old Kiev woman, put the tiger into a separate cage to clean its regular holding pen on Wednesday, but somehow the tiger got to worker and attacker her.
12/05/04 - A circus staffer working at a show in Texas was injured after getting too close to the tiger cage. The worker's hand was bitten and mangled by a Bengal tiger. The tiger belongs to the Great Circus of China. Circus managers say the tiger was properly caged at the time.
11/20/04 - A 14 year old boy was mauled by a 450 lb tiger that was being walked on a leash in St. Augestine, Florida, by the cat's owner. The boy and some friends were watching the tiger being moved to the truck when the tiger went for the boy, hooking the boy's thigh and pulling the boy under him. That's when the deputies shot the tiger with the Tasers. The handler tried to get between the tiger and the boy, and after the tiger released the boy, it then bit the handler around his neck and head.
10/3/03 - In one of the most famous tiger attacks to date, world famous illusionist Roy Horn was critically injured when Montecore, one of his trademark white tigers, bit him in the neck and dragged him offstage at the Mirage in Las Vegas. The entertainer was partially paralyzed from the terrifying attack.
For a more comprehensive list of attacks courtesy of BigCatRescue.org,
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