• From a sharp-toothed zoo escapee to a killer mountain goat, we count ten of the
most devastating animal attacks around the world!
10 – San Francisco Zoo Tiger Attack, • On Christmas Day 2007, Tatiana the tiger
escaped her grotto enclosure at San Francisco Zoo and fatally mauled a seventeen-year-old
boy.
Carlos Eduardo Sousa Jr. had his jugular vein slashed by the ferocious animal.
Although never proven, many believe Carlos attracted the tiger’s ire by taunting it.
Rookie mistake.
• Two brothers also suffered severe bites and claw wounds and were lucky to have escaped
with their lives.
• Tatiana was brought to the San Francisco Zoo in 2005 and had previously showed signs
of aggression when she clawed and bit a veteran zookeeper.
• The scene on Christmas was chaotic, with police delayed in their arrival.
Twenty minutes after her escape, Tatiana had to be shot by a zoo team member.
• This was the first visitor fatality caused by an animal escape in the history of the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums. 9 – Charla Nash Chimp Attack,
• In 2009, Charla Nash was brutally maimed by her friend’s chimpanzee, Travis.
The 200-pound primate ripped off Nash’s nose, lips, eyelids, and hands, and was shot
dead by a police officer in self-defence.
• Travis famously appeared in television shows and commercials, including the Maury
Povich Show and ads for Coca-Cola.
He had exhibited no past violent behaviours; however, in 2003, he escaped his owner’s
car at a busy intersection and chased a man who had thrown something at their vehicle.
That incident led to a new Connecticut law prohibiting people from keeping primates heavier
than fifty pounds as pets.
• Since her attack, Charla Nash has had a full face transplant.
Unfortunately, doctors were forced to remove her eyes because of a disease transmitted
by the chimp, and an attempted hand transplant failed because Nash’s body rejected it.
• The U.S. Military has reportedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to assist
with Nash’s physical rehabilitation.
They believe the research could serve disfigured soldiers returning from war.
8 – Maddox Derkosh Wild Dogs Attack, • Maddox Derkosh was a two-year-old boy
who, in 2012, met a tragic death when he fell off a wooden rail into Pittsburgh Zoo’s
African wild painted dogs enclosure.
• The boy had poor vision, so his mother had lifted him up to give him a better view
of the dogs.
Maddox lunged forward to get a better view and fell eleven feet, bouncing off protective
netting and into the pit, where eleven hungry dogs pounced on him.
• The autopsy later confirmed the boy survived the fall, but died from the severe blood loss
caused by the attack.
7 – Azaria Chamberlain Disappearance, • Azaria Chamberlain was a nine-week-old
infant who was tragically eaten by a dingo in Australia’s Northern Territory in 1980.
• Azaria’s mother, Lindy Chamberlain, immediately contacted police to report that
a dingo had stolen her baby.
Lindy was trialled and eventually convicted of first-degree murder because there was insufficient
evidence to suggest the dingo even existed.
The case was highly controversial.
• During the trial, Lindy Chamberlain had been adamant Azaria was wearing a matinée
jacket over her jumpsuit at the time of her disappearance.
In 1986, police discovered Azaria’s missing jacket in an area full of dingo lairs while
investigating an unrelated incident.
The Northern Territory Chief Minister immediately ordered the Chamberlain’s release and the
case was officially closed.
• The 1988 film A Cry in the Dark, starring Meryl Streep, depicts the events of the Chamberlain
case.
6 – Bethany Hamilton Shark Attack, • In 2003, thirteen-year-old surfer Bethany
Hamilton was attacked by a shark while surfing in Tunnels Beach, Kaui.
She’d been lying on her surfboard, with one arm in the water, when a hungry tiger
shark swam up and ripped off her arm, permanently severing it.
• The attack occurred at 7.30 in the morning and Hamilton lost an astonishing sixty percent
of her blood.
Fortunately, a doctor living in a nearby hotel came to her rescue and she miraculously survived.
• The offending tiger shark was hunted down and killed, and Hamilton returned to surfing
three weeks later.
The broken surfboard Hamilton rode during the attack is on display at the California
Surf Museum.
5 – Roy Horn Tiger Attack, • Our second tiger entry – seriously,
don’t mess with these creatures!
• In 2003, during a Siegfried and Roy show at the mirage, performer Roy Horn was attacked
by the seven-year-old tiger he trained and worked with.
• For reasons unknown, Mantecore the tiger lunged at Horn during the middle of the show.
Horn was dragged off stage, leaving audience members nervously clapping, wondering whether
it was all part of the show.
• By the time emergency workers arrived, Horn had sustained breathing difficulties.
He’d suffered substantial blood loss and was rushed to the Trauma Centre of a nearby
Nevada Medical Centre.
Horn remained in a critical condition for weeks following the attack and had to have
part of his skull removed to reduce pressure on his brain.
• Despite all this, he had no hard feelings towards the tiger and continued to work with
him.
4 – Dawn Brancheau Orca Attack, • In February 2010, a SeaWorld Orlando trainer
named Dawn Brancheau was killed after a 12,300-pound killer whale attacked her during a ‘Dine
with Shamu’ show.
• Tilikum the whale reportedly yanked Brancheau by her ponytail and dragged her down to the
bottom of the pool.
Witnesses who were there claimed that by the time Tilikum and Brancheau were underwater,
he had her by the waist and the pool quickly turned red.
• The incident is recounted in the 2013 documentary Blackfish.
The film features interviews with SeaWorld staff, who claimed Tilikum’s depression
and other behavioural issues stemmed from the horrendous conditions he was kept in.
• Tilikum is the largest Orca in captivity and has, incredibly, played roles in the deaths
of three people.
3 – William Winans Python Attack, • Less-than-a-year-old William Winans was
chilling, asleep in his crib one night, when a freak python appeared and wrapped itself
around his foot, constricting and attempting to eat it.
• The python was discovered when William’s father came into the room at 11 p.m. to investigate
William’s crying.
Thinking quickly, William’s dad removed the snake using a blanket.
William was then rushed to hospital, having sustained bruises, scratches and a bite mark.
• The python is believed to have been a pet that had escaped from a neighbour’s
apartment.
William’s mother said she had never seen any pythons around, and that someone had clearly
violated the building’s no-animals policy.
• This demonstrates how easily escaped pets can become dangerous predators.
Would never happen with goldfish, though.
Those are okay.
2 – Darla Napora Pit Bull Attack, • Darla Napora was a pregnant thirty-two-year-old
Pit Bull advocate who was found mauled to death in her California living room.
Her carpet was soaked with blood when she was discovered by her husband and reports
say she was unresponsive and not breathing.
• The offending canine was Napora’s two-year-old pet Pit Bull, which was immediately put down
when it later escaped the confines of its backyard.
• Napora had been a member of Bay Area’s ‘Dog Lovers Responsible about Pit Bulls’,
a group campaigning to convince the public that pit bulls are safe to own.
It’s unknown whether she was killed by the vicious dog attack or the huge dose of irony.
1 – Kerala Festival Elephant Rampage, • There has been an alarming rise in elephant
attacks and tramplings during Hindu festivals.
• In the southern Indian state of Kerala, elephants are customarily adorned with a decorative
cloth called caparison and used in ceremonial festivals.
The world’s only Elephant Palace, located near the famous Guruvayur temple, houses more
than sixty captive elephants, which are called upon during festivals.
• Ordinarily, elephants and humans coexist peacefully.
However, there have been recent reports of elephants going berserk during festivals,
killing their trainers and severely injuring more hundreds of onlookers.
• Between 1998 and 2010, more than two hundred and twelve people have reportedly died from
elephant attacks.
Can’t we all just get along?