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Primate Attacks
The following is a partial listing of incidents
involving captive primates since 1990. These incidents have resulted
in the killing of 450 primates, two human deaths, and more than
130 human injuries.
March 31, 2002/Japan: A "pet"
monkey escaped from his cage and bit two people. The monkey was
later captured by police in Seto.
January 10, 2002/Knox County, Tenn.: A
"pet" Japanese snow macaque escaped from a backyard cage
and attacked a neighbor, biting his back and hand.
September 10, 2001/Danville, N.H.: A search
party was organized after at least 10 monkey sightings were reported,
including by the fire chief. The monkey, believed to be an escaped
"pet," was seen running across streets and into bushes
and was described as being 8 feet long from his tail to his hands.
Experts fear that the monkey will perish if not captured before
winter.
July 27, 2001/Martinsburg, W.Va.: A "pet"
monkey kept in a trailer park, believed to be a rhesus macaque,
escaped and bit two children and a teenager. The bite victims underwent
testing for herpes, tuberculosis, HIV, and other conditions.
June 29, 2001/Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, Canada:
Health Canada officials announced that at least two laboratory workers
contracted simian foamy virus from macaque monkeys used at the Sir
Frederick Grant Banting Research Centre.
June 16, 2001/Mexico: Actor Salma Hayek
suffered nerve and ligament damage after she was attacked and bitten
on the hands, arms, and fingers by a capuchin monkey on a movie
set.
June 14, 2001/Seattle, Wash.: Woodland
Park Zoo officials euthanized a 20-year-old lion-tailed macaque
who tested positive for the herpes B virus.
June 9, 2001/Omaha, Neb.: A squirrel monkey
roaming freely and mingling with zoo visitors in an exhibit at Henry
Doorly Zoo bit a woman's finger, causing an infection, after she
offered the animal a cookie.
May 12, 2001/Lakeland, Fla.: Health officials
searched in vain for a woman who brought a "pet" monkey
on a leash to a festival after the monkey bit and scratched a man
on the arm. The man was treated for herpes B for fear that he might
have contracted the deadly virus.
April 19, 2001/Jefferson County, Mo.: Three
chimpanzees with Chimparty, a company owned by Connie and Mike Casey
that supplies primates for parties and TV commercials, escaped from
an unlocked cage. A teenage boy shot and killed one of the chimpanzees.
April 3, 2001/Budapest, Hungary: Two chimpanzees
escaped from their cages in a traveling circus and went on a rampage,
terrorizing residents and attacking two people. One chimpanzee was
cornered in a courtyard, and the other knocked himself out when
he ran into a glass door.
February 19, 2001/Stevensville, Canada:
A 6-year-old girl had a portion of her index finger bitten off by
a spider monkey at a petting zoo.
January 30, 2001/Las Vegas, Nev.: A 1-year-old
female chimpanzee named C.J., belonging to Monica Riddell's Xotic
Stars of Las Vegas, bit a person on the finger during public exhibition.
December 2, 2000/Oklahoma City, Okla.:
A 5-year-old "pet" capuchin, who was taken on a shopping
trip to Home Depot, attacked and bit a teenage shopper on the leg.
October 17, 2000/France: French authorities
reported that increasing numbers of dangerous and uncontrollable
Barbary macaques were being abandoned by their owners and left to
roam. An estimated 500 Barbary apes had been smuggled into the country
in the previous two years to keep as "pets" or attack
animals.
September 29, 2000/Tulsa, Okla.: A 4-year-old
girl required hospital treatment after she was bitten or scratched
on the cheek by a monkey brought to a motel.
September 25, 2000/Maryville, Tenn.: A
girl was treated at a hospital for a bite wound to her arm inflicted
by her stepfather's "pet" Japanese snow macaque.
September 23, 2000/Jarratt, Va.: Three
escaped monkeys threw fruit at vehicles traveling the interstate.
After police arrived at the scene, the monkeys dashed across the
interstate and disappeared into the woods.
August 15, 2000/Sprague, W.Va.: A "pet"
chimpanzee escaped from his cage for three hours, biting a teenager
on the hand and biting a neighbor who had tried to restrain the
150-pound animal. The same chimpanzee had escaped in July 1998 and
attacked a postal truck, forcing the driver to flee and causing
the truck to crash.
August 12, 2000/Jessamine County, Ky.:
A woman who was eight months pregnant was hospitalized after one
of her two "pet" rhesus macaques suddenly turned violent
while her cage was being cleaned and bit the woman's nose. The woman
was given an anti-viral medication, which was a hazard to her pregnancy,
in case the monkey tested positive for herpes B. She had been inspired
to purchase "pet" monkeys when, as a child, she saw monkeys
riding bicycles in a circus.
August 8, 2000/San Angelo, Texas: A capuchin
"went crazy" and bit his owner. The owner shot the monkey
seven or eight times, killing him. This is the same monkey who bit
a neighbor on January 9, 1998.
August 3, 2000/Southwest Ranches, Fla.: A
"pet" spider monkey escaped from his cage and attacked
two teenage girls. The girls were treated at the hospital for scratch
and bite wounds to their faces, heads, and arms. The monkey was
captured the next day. The same monkey had attacked a woman six
months earlier.
August 1, 2000/Dover, Wis.: A "pet"
Japanese macaque got loose and attacked two people. The monkey grabbed
a neighbor around the waist and inflicted four bite wounds to the
leg. Moments later, the monkey bit a postal carrier on the hand.
The
monkey was captured and killed.
July 24, 2000/Dallas, Texas: A chimpanzee
was electrocuted after escaping from her habitat at the Dallas Zoo.
She scratched a zookeeper, who required hospital treatment, and
climbed a telephone pole. The zookeeper fired at the chimpanzee
with a shotgun, and a veterinarian fired a tranquilizer at the animal,
causing her to fall. She was electrocuted as she grabbed for a power
line.
July 18, 2000/Jefferson City, Mo.: A 7-year-old
boy, riding his bicycle, was attacked by a neighbor's "pet"
rhesus macaque, who jumped from a tree and bit the boy's arm. The
child was subjected to a two-month ordeal involving doctors, needles,
tests, and the fear of contracting the deadly herpes virus.
July 13, 2000/Ishikawa, Okinawa: A "pet"
Japanese macaque escaped from his cage and attacked two people.
One man was in serious condition after the monkey severed one of
his arteries.
June 1, 2000/Columbia, Md.: An escaped
2_-foot-tall spider monkey chased a woman who had just stepped outside
her home and bit her on the thigh, then ran away.
May 31, 2000/Pensacola, Fla.: An orangutan
at The Zoo escaped from an unlocked cage and attacked a zookeeper.
The keeper was treated at a hospital for bruises and five bite wounds.
The orangutan was lured back to her cage 45 minutes later with food.
May 2000/Tulsa, Okla.: A monkey bit a boy
in a pet store.
April 9, 2000/Franklin, Tenn.: A chimpanzee
named Angel, brought by Sid Yost (also known as Ranger Rick Kelly)
to Blockbuster Video for photo ops and to promote a Critter Gitter
movie, fiercely bit a 9-year-old girl on the hand after posing for
a photograph. The girl's hand swelled and required stitches. Yost
left the state before the chimpanzee could be quarantined and was
issued a citation for violating Tennessee's exotic animal law. Yost
failed to show up in court and never paid the fine. The girl's parents
filed a $50,000 lawsuit against Yost, Critter Gitters, and Blockbuster,
claiming that the defendants should have been aware of the danger
inherent in subjecting Angel to a crowded area with so many children.
None of the parties named in the lawsuit offered to pay for medical
expenses.
March 28, 2000/Stirlingshire, Scotland:
A colony of 89 rhesus macaques was shot dead at the Blair Drummond
Safari Park after they were found to have herpes B. The monkeys
were famous for clambering over cars and tourist buses.
March 21, 2000/West Midland, England: A
colony of 130 rhesus macaques was shot dead at West Midlands Safari
and Leisure Park after they were found to have herpes B.
March 3, 2000/London, England: A colony
of 215 rhesus macaques was shot dead at the Woburn Safari Park in
central England after routine medical tests showed that 11 were
infected with herpes B. In 1999, Britain's health authorities upgraded
the seriousness of herpes B to the same level as hemorrhagic fevers
Ebola and Lassa.
February 13, 2000/Lansing, Ill.: A "pet"
Java macaque attacked his owner, inflicting 6-inch-deep bites and
cuts on her head, arms, and legs and causing her to lose a pint
and a half of blood. She underwent three hours of surgery and 12
weeks of physical therapy. The monkey was killed for rabies tests.
January 14, 2000/Palm Harbor, Fla.: A "pet"
spider monkey escaped from a backyard cage and attacked a dog being
walked by a neighbor. The dog went into shock and suffered serious
artery and tendon damage.
December 28, 1999/Des Moines, Iowa: A rhesus
macaque found wandering the streets on November 23, 1999, bit an
animal control officer.
December 15, 1999/Rancho Bernardo, Calif.:
An escaped 3-foot-tall spider monkey led police on a two-hour chase,
frightened residents, and bit a police officer.
November 11, 1999/Dar es Salaam, Tanzania:
A "pet" monkey ran amok and twice invaded an elementary
school, biting three students on their arms and legs.
November 1, 1999/Euless, Texas: A "pet"
capuchin monkey attacked and bit an elderly woman.
October 4, 1999/Evansville, Ind.: A child
was bitten on his finger by a macaque at Mesker Park Zoo. Two of
the zoo's six macaque monkeys selected at random tested positive
for the herpes B virus.
September 14, 1999/ Yokohama, Japan: A
Japanese macaque escaped from a steel cage in a pet store and attacked
two children.
September 1, 1999/West Covina, Calif.:
A "pet" chimpanzee bit off the fingertip of a woman visiting
the owner's home. This is the same chimpanzee who attacked four
people on August 19, 1998.
August 5, 1999/Bellevue, Neb.: A police
officer was sent to the hospital after a macaque with a history
of biting people bit him on the leg.
July 31, 1999/Kissimmee, Fla.: A "pet"
capuchin escaped and attacked a boy, scratching his leg. The monkey
bit one police officer on the leg and pulled the hair of another
before he was recaptured.
June 20, 1999/Philadelphia, Pa.: An orangutan
at the Philadelphia Zoo escaped from the exhibit he was in and ran
loose in the zoo for 25 minutes before he was tranquilized by a
veterinarian.
May 11, 1999/Idaho Falls, Idaho: A woman
went to the hospital after a caged "pet" monkey bit her.
April 15, 1999/Punta Gorda Isles, Fla.:
A police officer used a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot and kill a 2-foot-tall
rhesus macaque. The monkey had been running loose and acting aggressively
toward residents for a month.
April 1, 1999/Glen Burnie, Md.: A 2-year-old
Bonnett macaque bit a woman on the lip at a tavern, touching off
a brawl in which two other people were bitten. Animal control had
on file instances of seven other people who had been bitten or scratched
by the 9-pound "pet" monkey. The owners ignored animal
control orders not to take the monkey out in public. One of the
injured parties filed a $25,000 lawsuit.
March 3, 1999/Bristol, England: Two 7-inch
"pet" marmosets were turned over to the RSPCA after they
terrorized and attacked a family, causing cuts to arms, legs, and
hands and ripping apart the kitchen.
February 27, 1999/Salt Lake City, Utah:
Two chimpanzees at the Hogle Zoo attacked two employees. One worker
was in critical condition after losing part of his nose and a finger.
The two chimpanzees were shot with a shotgun and later killed.
January 14, 1999/Singapore: A truck driver
underwent surgery on his finger and was hospitalized for three days
after he was bitten while capturing a tamarin who had been released
from a zoo.
January 13, 1999/Hillsborough, Fla.: A
"pet" capuchin attacked her owner, biting her 50 times
on the hands and legs.
November 1, 1998/Euless, Texas: A spider
monkey bit a student at an elementary school.
October 4, 1998/Slidell, La.: An escaped
"pet" vervet ran wild in a house, knocking over a lamp
and attacking two women, biting one on the arm and slashing the
legs of another with teeth and claws. A police officer responding
to the frantic 911 call was also attacked. The monkey threw a picture
frame at him, then jumped on and bit him. Both women needed stitches.
The monkey was killed.
August 19, 1998/West Covina, Calif.: A
"pet" chimpanzee escaped from his cage and went berserk,
biting four people and denting a police car with his fists during
a three-hour rampage. One officer required three surgeries on his
hand at a cost of $250,000.
July 6, 1998/Sprague, W.Va.: A "pet"
chimpanzee escaped from his enclosure and attacked a postal truck,
forcing the driver to flee and causing the truck to crash.
May 18, 1998/Narbonne, France: Chimpanzees
escaped from their enclosure at a wild animal park and attacked
construction workers. One worker was mauled so badly that he needed
30 stitches on his face and neck.
May 1, 1998/Wichita, Kan.: A macaque bit
a child and a teenager at a store during a promotional event.
April 26, 1998/Rishon Le-Zion, Israel:
A monkey escaped from his cage at the Hai-Kef Zoo in Rishon Le-Zion
and attacked an 18-year-old employee, biting his arms, face, and
back. Medics said that the man's face was barely recognizable and
that his hands had been bitten off. Police killed the monkey.
April 13, 1998/Atlanta, Ga.: The U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention found that four lab workers who
handled monkeys had become infected with monkey viruses.
April 8, 1998/Beirut, Lebanon: A monkey
escaped from his cage in an amusement park and bit four people.
Police shot and killed the monkey.
February 27, 1998/Sibu, Malaysia: A 3-year-old
girl was hospitalized with injuries to her head, face, eyes, upper
lip, and thigh after she was attacked by a "pet" monkey
who had broken loose from his chain. Two boys beat the monkey to
death with a piece of wood.
January 9, 1998/San Angelo, Texas: A "pet"
capuchin bit a 19-year-old neighbor man, who underwent rabies shots.
January 5, 1998/Madison, Wis.: Henry Vilas
Zoo announced that its 150 macaques had been exposed to herpes B
and one-third of them were infectious carriers and  were
considered to pose a public health risk.
December 28, 1997/Charlotte County, Fla.:
A 6-year-old visiting Octagon Exotics was attacked by a caged baboon,
who pulled out chunks of her hair and attempted to bite her.
December 10, 1997/Atlanta, Ga.: A Yerkes
primate researcher died of herpes B after she was splashed in the
eye with bodily fluids from a rhesus macaque.
October 6, 1997/South Barrington, Ill.:
A baboon at a petting zoo bit a 4-year-old girl.
August 15, 1997/Elburn, Ill.: A baboon
with a traveling zoo scratched a 15-year-old girl's leg during a
parade.
August 8, 1997/Hartford, Conn.: A "pet"
Java macaque got away while being taken for a walk and attacked
an elderly neighbor woman, grabbing her hair and biting her arm.
July 12, 1997/Glen Burnie, Md.: A 6-year-old
girl who had been bitten in the face by a "pet" Bonnett
macaque while at a carnival was treated at a nearby hospital for
her wound and received six shots to her face, arms, and legs.
July 7, 1997/Bridgton, Maine: State game
wardens seized a "pet" squirrel monkey after the animal
bit and scratched a woman standing in a supermarket checkout line.
June 29, 1997/Bourbonnais, Ill.: A vervet
with a traveling zoo bit a 3-year-old girl in the face at a festival.
June 5, 1997/Beirut, Lebanon: An escaped
"pet" monkey spread panic in two schools where two children
and a teacher were bitten. The monkey was shot dead by police.
June 4, 1997/Montréal, Québec:
A leashed monkey grabbed the leg of a passerby and bit her on the
knee. Wildlife officials reported that the monkey had bitten at
least six people recently.
March 1, 1997/Houston, Texas: An 8-year-old
capuchin turned on his owner and nearly killed her, severing her
thumb and part of her index finger and slicing her legs.
September 28, 1996/Los Angeles, Calif.:
Actor Elizabeth Hurley reeled back in shock when she was bitten
on the ear by a chimpanzee while appearing on Jay Leno's Tonight
Show.
September 22, 1996/Palm Beach, Fla.: A
pigtailed macaque who tested positive for herpes B bit a 4-year-old
girl on the shoulder while he was being taken for a walk. The "pet"
monkey had been kissed and held by hundreds of people. Authorities
confiscated the animal.
September 20, 1996/New Delhi, India: A
monkey mauled a zookeeper to death at the Alipore zoo. The keeper's
jugular veins were severed in the attack.
May 18, 1996/Staten Island, N.Y.: Four
heavily armed emergency service police officers chased a capuchin
monkey through a residential neighborhood for 45 minutes. The monkey
escaped, fleeing into woods near the Staten Island mall.
April 6, 1996/Alice, Texas: Two monkeys
imported into a research facility were infected with the deadly
Ebola virus. One monkey died and the other was killed.
March 24, 1996/Gainesville, Fla.: Residents
were warned not to catch, feed, or touch a rhesus macaque exposed
to the herpes B virus who had escaped from a research farm.
February 28, 1996/Metairie, La.: A "pet"
vervet was impounded after biting an animal control officer during
a home inspection. The monkey had earlier scratched the owner's
2-year-old son.
February 22, 1996/Hong Kong, China: A starving
monkey bit a handler while his cage was being cleaned. The handler
received seven stitches to his legs. The monkey was one of six monkeys,
15 tigers, and 10 horses with a Russian circus that ran out of money
and could no longer feed the animals.
February 1, 1996/Bridgton, Maine: The same
squirrel monkey who attacked a woman on July 7, 1997, in a supermarket
bit a child during a school demonstration.
November 14, 1995/Acadiana, La.: A zoo
worker at the Zoo of Acadiana was viciously attacked and bitten
on the leg by a monkey who escaped during a medical exam. The employee
was off work for several days with an infected leg.
September 8, 1995/Royal Oak, Mich.: The
owner of a 3-year-old spider monkey received 17 stitches in his
lower lip after the monkey attacked him.
July 16, 1995/Los Angeles, Calif.: A Los
Angeles Zoo volunteer was placing popcorn in the monkey exhibit
when a monkey mauled her. She sustained lacerations, puncture wounds,
and deep cuts, leaving her disfigured and permanently disabled.
A lawsuit was filed against the zoo.
July 14, 1995/Scarborough, Toronto: A man
was hospitalized after being bitten in the leg by a neighbor's spider
monkey.
June 3, 1995/Hollidaysburg, Pa.: An escaped
"pet" monkey grabbed a kitchen knife and cigarette lighter,
holding police at bay for nearly two hours. The monkey ran through
the house and bit two women. Animal control caught the monkey with
a snare. The monkey later died in a cage.
January 1, 1995/Kansas City, Mo.: A "pet"
chimpanzee bit a 7-year-old girl, causing her to have to undergo
rabies treatment. Authorities had received numerous complaints that
the chimpanzee ran loose and had attacked several people.
November 30, 1994/Boca Raton, Fla.: A 5-inch
"pet" marmoset, smuggled into a restaurant in a bag, escaped
and bit a diner on the ear.
November 11, 1994/San Francisco, Calif.:
The San Francisco Zoo alerted area residents to be on the watch
for an escaped patas monkey.
August 20, 1994/Tulane, La.: Residents
began calling authorities after spotting monkeys near their homes.
The monkeys were among 28 pigtailed macaques who had escaped from
the Delta Regional Primate Research Center.
August 9, 1994/Surprise, Ariz.: A 4-year-old
boy developed an eye infection after being bitten and scratched
by two macaques. The boy's mother had obtained the monkeys as "pets"
three weeks earlier.
August 2, 1994/Knoxville, Tenn.: Residents
were warned that an escaped "pet" spider monkey might
bite. The animal got loose in the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park.
August 2, 1994/New Smyrna Beach, Fla.:
Five Japanese macaques donated to Ashby Acres Wildlife Park by the
Pittsburgh Zoo were found to be infected with herpes B.
June 30, 1994/Phoenix, Ariz.: A "pet"
Java macaque escaped from his backyard cage and ran throughout a
residential neighborhood for 17 hours before he was recaptured.
February 1, 1994/Kansas City, Mo.: A "pet"
chimpanzee jumped on and bit a man, causing injuries that needed
medical treatment.
December 14, 1993/Belleville, Ontario:
A Japanese macaque carrying a virus that could harm humans was found
after escaping from an animal shelter 10 days earlier.
August 26, 1993/Johannesburg, South Africa:
A vervet infected with a virus was found one week after escaping
from a university laboratory.
July 11, 1993/Rolling Meadows, Ill.: A
leashed guenon grabbed an 11-year-old girl's leg and inflicted three
bite wounds that required stitches. Animal control had tried unsuccessfully
to confiscate the monkey years earlier, after police alleged that
the animal had bitten several people.
July 9, 1993/Niagara, N.Y.: A man was taken
by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he received stitches to
close bite wounds from his "pet" patas monkey.
June 20, 1993/Tel Aviv, Israel: An escaped
"pet" macaque darted into a neighbor's home and caused
a ruckus. The family fled and called police. An officer was bitten
on the arm while attempting to catch the animal.
December 15, 1992/Kiryat Motzkin/Israel:
A 10-year-old boy was bitten by one of two monkeys who escaped from
a children's zoo.
November 4, 1992/Jerusalem, Israel: A 14-month-old
baby was seriously bitten and scratched in a public park by a monkey
who had escaped from a cage.
August 24, 1992/Inman, S.C.: A 78-year-old
woman hanging sheets on a clothesline in her backyard was attacked
twice by one of three chimpanzees who had escaped from Hollywild
Animal Park. The woman was repeatedly knocked to the ground and
rolled around by the 100-pound chimp. She was treated for minor
injuries at a medical center.
July 15, 1992/New York, N.Y.: A leashed
monkey slapped and scratched a subway clerk on the head when a man
attempted to bring him into the subway station.
July 6, 1992/Miami, Fla.: Police warned
area residents of rogue rhesus and Java macaques who had bitten
a toddler, attacked a police officer, and terrorized a suburban
parking lot. One monkey was shot and killed.
May 8, 1992/Norcross, Ga.: A 2-year-old
squirrel monkey kept in a cage at a pet shop bit a teenager.
February 1, 1992/Fashion Island, Calif.:
A "pet" monkey belonging to a man accused of trying to
sell tiger and lion cubs from the back of a convertible bit a woman.
December 29, 1991/Baton Rouge, La.: An
80-pound chimpanzee named Candi escaped from a local amusement park
for an hour, snarled traffic, and injured two people. She was darted
with a tranquilizer gun and subdued.
July 25, 1991/Jefferson, Ark.: An animal
handler filed a $100 million claim against the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services because he allegedly contracted a deadly
virus when he was scratched by a macaque while working at the National
Center for Toxicological Research.
October 23, 1990/St. Petersburg, Fla.:
An escaped "pet" capuchin ran into a neighbor's home,
grabbed food in the kitchen, darted outside, and bit a woman as
she grabbed him.
July 7, 1990/Southeast Portland, Ore.:
Two leashed and collared chimpanzees went out of control during
a Circus Gatti performance. They dragged the trainer into the stands
and pulled a child from her seat and onto the arena floor, then
mauled her.
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