Police shot and killed both tigers in order to retrieve the body. (Fun fact, Big Cat Rescue, under the name Wildlife on Easy Street, appears on the list twice). While big cat safety issues occurred with some regularity in zoological settings and only dropped to consistently low numbers in the last few years of the study period, incident rates in private non-professional settings dropped drastically after 2008 and have been maintained at nearly zero. A common theme of these severe attacks are people entering the enclosure inexplicably. It is highly unlikely fatalities will not be recorded online and attract news media attention, so we have some level of certainty that this list is comprehensive. Cougars were the most common big cat species involved in safety incidents in private non-professional settings (38.8%), with tigers a close second at 34.9% [Figure 18]. This trend may be due to regulatory changes affecting private big cat ownership during the study period and/or increased availability of husbandry and safety information online in private non-professional settings. Big cat attacks happen throughout the world. There are many sites online that do this, and all of them attempt to convince the reader that it is dangerous to hold exotic animals in captivity, which is not unlike the tactics of the heavily criticized Dogsbite.org webpage that advocates breed-specific legislation. Many facilities that are called pet owners by activists are licensed or registered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is a requirement for commercial exhibitors. All of them are included as efficient ape predators. You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right. Anyone who does not knowingly visit places where exotic cats are being held has an almost non-existent, but not impossible, chance of being mauled by one. She was visiting her son who worked there and had gone to feed the animals, which she reportedly had done before. Dale Anderson Executive Director Project Survival, 10 Small Exotic Cats That Are Kept As Pets, April 6, 2006, Duxbury (15 Mi. Given that there is no single source tracking the occurrence of incidents external to federal and state licensure, it is highly unlikely that there are more accurate data sets in existence than those maintained by the animal rights organizations that have been working for over a decade to end the private ownership of dangerous exotic animals. Reasons Why Cats Attack. Nov. 9, 2013, Sherwood, OR: Renee Radziwon-Chapman, a 35 yr old woman was killed after she was bitten by a cougar at WildCat Haven. Then, I removed the big cat ‘incidences’ that did not result in human injury or death, such as escaped and confiscated animals. Groups Injured in Big Cat Safety Incidents - Private Non-Professional Settings. One specific animal that was counted by multiple groups as an escaped pet, hit by a car crossing a highway in Connecticut, was positively identified in 2012 through a genetics sample as a known male that had dispersed from a population in North Dakota and that was recorded on camera traps travelling through Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New York before his journey ended in New England (Larue et al., 2012). This is probably due to territorial instincts. Entertainment/Outreach: A business that facilitates animal-based entertainment, education, or outreach programs held away from where the animals reside (e.g., birthday parties with animal presentations). In my research, escaped animals tend to be more deadly if the victim is in the direct vicinity of its enclosure. A good portion of them are not horrendous injuries. What I found: Big Cat Rescue destroyed their data's credibility when they decided to include in their list 'incidences' that did not involve any attacks and no way to filter out the insubstantial data. Why is there no separate list that discusses animal attacks only? Since 1990, more than 300 dangerous incidents involving big cats have occurred in 44 states. Securing this information of attacks from any non-domesticated feline over a 25 year span out of all 50 states, despite the fact that I have little doubt that many less severe incidences went unreported, is highly revealing about the threat that captive big cats pose towards the public when they are maintained under traditional 'dangerous animal' standards. I listed a serval attack (animal owned by Corinne Oltz) as 'severe' because the punctures were described as "bone deep" on the list. Other zoo employees, volunteers, and young people were injured only about 20% of the time. However the success rate of each species can vary with pack animals more likely to successfully kill their prey. July 31, 2001 Center Hill, FL: A 500-pound tiger mauled and killed Vincent Lowe who was making cage repairs at a roadside zoo called Savage Kingdom. Ohio’s big cat stampede prods review of laws nationwide. Adults and children not responsible for animal care were the groups most frequently injured in private non-professional settings [Figure 17], at 40% and 34.3% of the total incidents respectively. Cause of Cat Aggression and Attacks. The above statement, Big Cat Rescue supported with big cat 'incidences' in the USA that includes at least 80 zoological facilities and at least 49 of these (more than half) were or are currently accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). (pp. Crespo, G. (2018, July 16). The three victims were possibly intoxicated and/or high on marijuana and possibly were taunting the tiger, prompting it to climb out of its enclosure and pursue them. October 10, 2001 Lee County, TX: A 3-year-old boy was killed by one of three of a relative’s (Kerry Quinney) “pet” tigers as he was about to have his picture taken with the animals. Any missing data are likely to be but a small fraction of the total, however, since animal safety issues are generally considered highly newsworthy and inherently attract public attention. The price of admission for a zoo in 18th century England was a dog or a cat, which were fed to the lions. The boy, Clayton James Eller, was shoveling snow Sunday afternoon near the tiger’s cage, an enclosure made of chain link “This little boy got too close, and it pulled him under the fence,” Coroner Howard Laney said.