During lastnights performance at the Mirage in Las Vegas the tiger, a 7 year old performing for the first time, lunged for Roy's neck and dragged him off the stage. He was rushed for emergency surgery and is in critical condition but is expected to survive. The tiger is now under quarantine and may be put to death. This is really terrible.:(

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/10/04/roy.attacked/index.html

Whoa...

Wow.

That's terrible, but I don't think the tiger should be put down. It's a wild animal for crying out loud. I always heard never trust a wild animal even though you raised it.

What a shame.

I just heard that. That's awful

Originally posted by animalcrackers
That's terrible, but I don't think the tiger should be put down. It's a wild animal for crying out loud. I always heard never trust a wild animal even though you raised it. :grr: when are people going to realize that these arent domesticated tabbys and shouldnt be forced to perform in a circus act?

i know id try to rip someone's head off if they did that to me... :(

I just read that, it is a terrible thing :(

I think the tiger should be put down, he attacked someone and i really don't care if he is a wild or tame animal.

I'm just glad Roy will be okay.

Tigers are an ENDANGERED SPECIES and they're going to put it to sleep?? :confused: :mad: Some things that people do just make me ill. I'm sure the poor creature just loved being dragged from the Bengal jungles to give his life for Sigfried and Roy's Stupid Pet Tricks.



http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/pictures/normal/NGM_199712_COVER.jpg

I agree with RobyRob and Captain ABlairica 100%.

Originally posted by Captain ABlairica
Tigers are an ENDANGERED SPECIES and they're going to put it to sleep?? :confused: :mad: Some things that people do just make me ill. I'm sure the poor creature just loved being dragged from the Bengal jungles to give his life for Sigfried and Roy's Stupid Pet Tricks.



http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/pictures/normal/NGM_199712_COVER.jpg

I agree! The tiger should be living in the jungle, not performing every night on a stage! They are total morons if they put it to sleep.

I feel bad for Roy too and I hope he will be okay but if they put this tiger to sleep it will be a real tragedy. He didn't ask to be removed from his natural habitat and shoved before bright lights and screaming crowds six days a week.:(

Holy crap.

Well Im glad Roy is gonna live... most likely

I read this is my newspaper. I really hope that Roy and the tiger both live.

Looks like Roy doesnt want the cat to die either.

Magician Roy Horn Gives Thumbs Up After Mauling
Sun October 5, 2003 08:11 PM ET

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Famed Las Vegas magician Roy Horn of the "Siegfried and Roy" duo on Sunday signaled thumb's up after a second surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, two days after being savagely mauled by a white tiger during a performance, according to a family friend.
Horn remained in critical but stable condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, about two miles north of the Mirage hotel-casino.

A 600-pound seven-year-old male tiger grabbed the performer's forearm about halfway into the Friday night show at the Mirage, witnesses said.

When Horn tried to fend the tiger off with his microphone -- hitting the animal in the face and saying "no, no" -- it lunged and bit him on the neck and dragged him offstage, causing massive bleeding, they said.

Handlers sprayed the tiger with a fire extinguisher to separate him from Roy, who was conscious when he was rushed from the hotel to undergo about two hours of surgery.

Even as he was being attacked by the tiger, he showed concern for the audience by trying to remain calm and not do anything that might provoke the tiger to attack anyone else. As Horn was being led away by paramedics, he said: "Don't kill the cat," according to Amy Fink, a family friend who came by the hospital after the surgery.

Fink was one of 600 people who attended Horn's birthday party Thursday evening in a showroom at the Mirage. The entertainer turned 59 on Friday.

Late Saturday night, Siegfried and Roy's longtime manager announced the S&R spectacle, as they called it, would be suspended indefinitely. Everyone who works for the show was told they should probably look for a job somewhere else.

COMMUNICATING WITH HIS EYES

"We didn't want to lead them to think this would resolve in the next day or two, week or two, or month or two," said Alan Feldman, a spokesman for MGM Mirage .

Lynette Chapelle, one of the stars of the Siegfried & Roy show, said Horn has communicated with doctors and friends despite being on heavy medication and in critical condition from the neck wound. He communicates with his eyes, squeezes hands and can make some sounds, she said.

Penn Jillette, of the magic act Penn & Teller, was among those who have visited the hospital in past 24 hours to show support. "They devised this bigger than life thing," Jillette said. "His job, he's the best at it there ever was. You could never read the danger in his face."

S&R cast members and other Las Vegas entertainers plan to hold a vigil at the hospital this evening.

"I think time is a good thing," Horn spokesman David Kirvin said, saying his survival after two days is a "positive" sign.

"The doctors are encouraged that he will recover, but it will be several days until the full extent of his injury is known," Kirvin said in an interview on Saturday.

Horn's partner, 64-year-old Siegfried Fischbacher, spent most of Friday night and early Saturday at the hospital, Kirvin said. "He is shocked and devastated," he said.

There had been no previous attacks in the more than 5,000 shows the two men have performed at the hotel, said Bernie Yuman, manager for "Siegfried and Roy."

"The last place Roy would place blame would be with the animal," Yuman said on Saturday.

White tigers and lions are a trademark of the German-born illusionists, who have been putting on one of the most famous shows in Las Vegas for more than 30 years and performing at the Mirage for 14 years.

Horn, born in Nordenham, Germany, and Fischbacher, of Rosenheim, Germany, have performed worldwide since meeting in 1959.

Well, I didn't think he'd want the tiger to be put down, which they better not do. I hope that he's going to pull through safely. :(

Captain ABlairica and robyrob, I completely share your sentiments.

I'd heard about this yesterday. It's awful, but, liebchen, this is what happens when you play with friggin tigers! :rolleyes: I certainly wish Roy the best - I'm very glad to hear he's gonna be okay. Looks like the act is gonna be done though. The manager had to tell the team that they better start looking for new jobs :( Sad.

Viel Besserung Roy! Wir lieben dich! :wave:

Tiger Attack May Cost Mirage Huge Loss

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Mirage hotel-casino lost one of its biggest money-making shows when a tiger nearly killed Roy Horn of "Siegfried and Roy." Now the resort has to figure a way to plug an annual revenue hole estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.

MGM Mirage officials say it's too early to say who will replace the legendary headliners - a mainstay at the Las Vegas Strip property since 1990.

The extent of Horn's injuries hasn't been revealed. The illusionist remained in critical condition Monday with a gaping wound to the neck. Doctors said Horn exhibited signs of improvement when he moved his feet and hands and gave the thumbs up sign late Sunday.

That's the best news MGM Mirage executives have been able to offer since Horn was attacked by the 600-pound-plus white tiger on Friday night during a sold-out performance.

With the "Siegfried and Roy" show closed indefinitely, company executives will try to find a profitable replacement fast, but it won't be easy. The duo put on what was arguably the most successful show in Las Vegas history, said John Mulkey, a Bear Stearns gambling analyst.

"It's safe to say that acts like Siegfried and Roy don't pop up overnight," Mulkey said.

Wall Street was still deciding Monday what effect the show's cancellation will have on The Mirage's bottom line.

The show generated about $44 million in annual revenue and attracted nearly 400,000 people a year, according to UBS Investment Research in New York.

David Anders, a gambling analyst with Merrill Lynch, wrote Monday that The Mirage will lose about $5 million a year in profits.

Mulkey said the casino could fill the pair's theater with bands or other acts that are easy to book. MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said the tigers, lions and other exotic animals that live at the casino's Secret Garden attraction will remain on display.

The 267 employees who worked on the show knew they had lost their livelihoods when Horn almost lost his life. The tiger's bite just missed his carotid artery.

"It was horrifying," said Andrea Timbol, 30, a spotlight operator. "We knew right away how grave it was. He lost a lot of blood at the theater."

The 7-year-old white tiger named Montecore has been quarantined for 10 days to ensure it doesn't have rabies.

Manager: Distraction Led to Tiger Attack


LAS VEGAS (AP) - Siegfried & Roy's longtime manager said Tuesday he thought the act went awry when Montecore the tiger got distracted by something in the audience.

Moments later the tiger attacked trainer and performer Roy Horn, leaving him in critical condition.

"Roy - heroically, from my perception - got in front of him and started to nudge him," manager Bernie Yuman told ABC-TVs "Good Morning America."

"They were both out of their routine. One thing led to another, and it was a tragic accident," he said.

Exquisite white tigers have been Horn's passion for almost 40 years. A modern day Dr. Dolittle who called the cats his children, Horn spent vast amounts of time, energy and money on animals that have left millions of show-goers here in awe since 1966.

The menagerie developed by Horn and longtime stage partner Siegfried Fischbacher includes 63 rare white tigers and white lions. Horn has been on hand for many of their births.

"The first voice they hear is mine, the first touch they feel is mine, the first human face they see is mine," Horn said in an interview in late 2000. "They just think I'm a strange tiger who walks on two legs."

But on Friday night, just 20 hours after Horn had celebrated his 59th birthday with hundreds of friends, one of the beasts inexplicably turned on its owner at the Mirage hotel-casino.

As he had done thousands of times, Horn sauntered onto the stage with 7-year-old Montecore, a white tiger who has appeared in the show since he was 6 months old - telling the capacity crowd of 1,503 it was the cat's stage debut - a little white tiger lie.

Montecore was told to lie down, but balked and grabbed Horn's arm in his mouth. Horn struck Montecore with his microphone, trying to get him to loosen his grip. Montecore then grabbed Horn by his throat, dragging him backstage where handlers subdued the tiger by spraying him with a fire extinguisher.

Horn prided himself in knowing his animals and his animals knowing him. In more than 40 years of close encounters with some of the world's most exotic animals, Horn was never injured by any of the creatures, Horn said in a 2000 interview for the book "Siegfried & Roy's Gift for the Ages."

"Siegfried and I have spent every waking moment with our animals," Horn said. "We watch and observe. We talk to them, take walks with them, swim with them, meditate with them. Day by day, we learn about each other. But you must have patience and respect for Mother Nature. Because when an animal gives you its trust, you feel like you have been given the most beautiful gift in the world."

Horn said whatever situation he's put in with his animals, "I always try to think as they think. We can always solve our arguments in an understanding way because I respect them and they respect me."

Only once was that philosophy tested, he said in the 2000 interview.

He was playing hide and seek, as he often did, with a Siberian tiger named Sahra.

"After rolling around in the grass together, she suddenly laid on top of me and pinned me down," Horn recalled. "Our eyes met and I realized she was no longer playing; she was about to bite me. Trusting my instincts, I raised my head and bit her nose as hard as I could.

"Totally perplexed, she jumped up and pretended it never happened. I immediately made our friendship sound - ff-fuff, ff-fuff. She never attempted to bite me again."

The bonds with special animals begin at an early age. When a white lion or white tiger is pregnant she is cared for at special birthing facilities at Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden, an animal habitat at the Mirage.

"I think this is incredible when you consider an animal like this can kill their own mate over young ones, and to think that she accepts Roy to be a part of the experience is a miracle," Fischbacher said.

Horn's love of animals dates back to postwar Germany, when his father returned home from the German military with an animal that was half dog, half wolf. Horn and the dog, Hexe, became inseparable, spending their days wandering in the nearby woods.

"If it wasn't for Hexe, I wouldn't be sitting here today," Horn said in the interview. One day Horn was sucked into a swamp area and began sinking. Hexe raced to a nearby farmhouse and brought help, Horn recalled.

Horn left home at an early age to become a bellboy on the cruise ship, where he met Fischbacher, a young magician who was one of the ship's entertainers.

The two first played Las Vegas in 1966, then returned as a featured act in 1974. They signed an unprecedented $57.5 million contract to play the Mirage in a theater bearing their name beginning in 1990. In 2001, after performing some 5,000 shows before more than 7 million people at the Mirage, they signed a lifetime contract with the resort.

The day after the attack, the show was closed indefinitely.

Zigefield & Roy are great magicians sorry about Roy's tiger accident during the performance. I saw Zigefield & Roy in the commercial for Cookies &... at one time. It was great!

What the tiger would say if he bit BOTH Siegfried and Roy:

"THEY'RE GRRRRRRREAT!!!!!" :eat: :liplick:



:lol:

Originally posted by Captain ABlairica
Tigers are an ENDANGERED SPECIES and they're going to put it to sleep?? :confused: :mad: Some things that people do just make me ill. I'm sure the poor creature just loved being dragged from the Bengal jungles to give his life for Sigfried and Roy's Stupid Pet Tricks.

Exactly. I think that's just wrong to put the tiger to sleep. It was acting on natural instinct. They should put it in a reserve and try to release it back into the wild. And as for Roy...I hope he's going to be okay, but he really did get what he deserved. If he's so money hungry that he would take these endangered animals out of their natural habitat, the tiger should've bit him.

Originally posted by ~*Hannah_Lee*~
Exactly. I think that's just wrong to put the tiger to sleep. It was acting on natural instinct. They should put it in a reserve and try to release it back into the wild. And as for Roy...I hope he's going to be okay, but he really did get what he deserved. If he's so money hungry that he would take these endangered animals out of their natural habitat, the tiger should've bit him.

Okay, I'm sorry but you really don't know what you're talking about. Siegfried and Roy have had special permits from zoos and wild life parks all around the country to care for these tigers. They have raised them all themselves, and have created special habitats in Vegas specifically for them. They've raised the population of the species greatly, and have been praised by many zoologists for their great care. Saying he got what he deserved is so cold-hearted. They didn't raise tigers because they're "money hungry." Roy's had a love for the tigers that began when he was still in Germany. It's not an easy thing to get permission to raise tigers - and they've had it for well over twenty years now.

Releasing that tiger into the wild would NOT be kind. It's been raised since it was a cub to be around people - it probably wouldn't make it on its own.

When Siegfried was on Larry King last night, he mentioned how the tiger was trying to save Roy. For example maybe flashing lights or something on stage made the tiger frightend so, like a tiger would carry a baby to safety, the tiger carried Roy to safety, unaware that humans are more sensitive than tigers. Roy loves his tigers and other animals more than anything so the tiger was just trying to save him...


Bless his heart though...I am praying for him...

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031009/D7U2V1KG0.html


Siegfried Says Tiger Was Trying to Help

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Animal experts on Thursday disputed a theory that a tiger accidentally mauled Roy Horn of the duo "Siegfried & Roy," saying the 600-pound animal was going for the jugular.

"The cat wasn't trying to protect him," said Jonathan Kraft, who runs the Arizona-based nonprofit group Keepers of the Wild. "That was a typical killing bite."

"I admire the guys, I just think they are sending a wrong message," Kraft said. "The message needs to be: These are wild animals."

Horn's partner, Siegfried Fischbacher, said Wednesday in interviews on CNN and ABC that the animal had been trying to help Horn after the illusionist slipped during Friday's performance.

Fischbacher said he was backstage when the Royal White tiger named Montecore took hold of Horn's neck and dragged him offstage. Show workers set off fire extinguishers to distract the tiger, which then scurried to his cage.

Fischbacher said Horn muttered after the attack: "Don't harm the cat."

Louis Dorfman, a Dallas animal behaviorist, said Fischbacher's account of an accidental mauling was "a beautiful story but it just doesn't wash."

"Stress led to the bite," said Dorfman, who works with the International Exotic Feline Sanctuary in Texas. "It was an outlet for his irritation. Roy got lucky."

"Siegfried & Roy" debuted in 1990 at The Mirage and earned the hotel-casino about $44 million in annual revenue. The show's 267 employees have been told to find new jobs.

Horn, 59, was injured before a sellout performance of 1,500.

He remained in critical condition Thursday and could not speak. Fischbacher confirmed to The Associated Press that Horn suffered a stroke after the attack but is now communicating through hand signals.

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman cautioned that the full story probably won't be known until Horn can talk.

Fischbacher hinted at a return to the stage if Horn recovers, saying the duo would "take a different path, I'm sure, but ... the show is our life."

The duo's manager, Bernie Yuman, told The Associated Press early Thursday that Siegfried would never continue to perform without his longtime partner. "It is Siegfried and Roy and that's the way it began and that's the way it will always be," he said.

The cat remains quarantined at the casino. The federal Agriculture Department is investigating.

poor Roy. If they didnt care for the Tigers they would probably be host by poachers or living in some NYC apartment. Its horrible to say he should have been biten.

Report: Portion of Roy's Skull Removed


LAS VEGAS (AP) - Doctors surgically removed a portion of illusionist Roy Horn's skull after he was mauled by a trained white tiger during a performance on the Las Vegas Strip, according to published reports.

Las Vegas neurosurgeon Lonnie Hammargren said about one-fourth of the right side of the Siegfried & Roy star's skull was removed to relieve cranial pressure in the crucial hours after the Oct. 3 attack. He said Horn suffered a "pretty big stroke" but that his paralysis might only be temporary.

Horn remained in critical condition Thursday at University Medical Center in Las Vegas. Hammargren said it was unclear when Horn would undergo surgery to return the skull piece.

Hammargren, a former Nevada lieutenant governor, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was commenting about Horn's treatment to correct misinformation about the procedure.

Hammargren didn't operate on Horn, but said he talked with Horn's surgeon, Dr. Derek Duke, about Horn's treatment.

Hammargren denied published reports that Horn, 59, underwent a radical procedure called a hemicraniectomy, involving surgical removal of half the skull.

He said Horn's surgeons instead performed a decompressive craniectomy, a more common procedure involving removal of about one-quarter of the skull.

"Dr. Duke did exactly the operation he should have," Hammargren said Wednesday. "Otherwise, Roy would be dead."

Hammargren said surgeons can remove a portion of the skull to give the brain room to expand following brain surgery, trauma, stroke or other medical problems causing the brain to swell.

The removed portion of the skull can then be surgically placed in the abdomen or frozen until it can be replaced, Hammargren said. He said he was told Horn's skull had been implanted in a pouch in Horn's abdomen.

Hammargren confirmed that Horn suffered a stroke and was paralyzed on the left side after the tiger attacked his neck.

"He had a pretty big stroke," the neurosurgeon said. "We just don't know yet. Fortunately, the stroke didn't hit on the side where he talks, thinks and remembers. He can still comprehend things and do things."

The 7-year-old male tiger that attacked Horn was released Tuesday from quarantine after 10 days of isolation. Clark County officials said they determined it did not have rabies.

MGM Mirage officials said the animal, named Montecore, will continue to live at the Secret Garden, an animal habitat at The Mirage hotel-casino.

Originally posted by ~*Hannah_Lee*~
Exactly. I think that's just wrong to put the tiger to sleep. It was acting on natural instinct. They should put it in a reserve and try to release it back into the wild. And as for Roy...I hope he's going to be okay, but he really did get what he deserved. If he's so money hungry that he would take these endangered animals out of their natural habitat, the tiger should've bit him. That's EXACTLY what I think! I say that and people yell at me, but it's true. If they would've left the tiger, and the rest of the animals, where they belonged, everyone would be fine.

There's so many variations of this story. Although being in Vegas we get a lot of new about this.

What was said here in one of the papers is that something in the audience caught the tiger's attention therefore, Roy ordered the tiger to lay down, but the tiger didn't follow directions. So Roy went to walk in front of him and tripped letting go of the tiger's chain, and hitting it on the nose with his microphone. That's when the tiger grabbed his arm, and Roy said, "No no..." all this was confusing the tiger and how they had trained him was that if they feel threatened or confused to run to their cage... So the tiger did just that. He grabbed Roy by the neck and went running off stage toward his cage, but he didn't make it there before the workers let off fire extinguishers which in return the tiger dropped Roy, and ran alone to his cage. Recently, they called in an expert that came to the hospital and inspected Roy's bite on his neck, and said it indeed wasn't a kill bite. The tiger had grabbed his by the neck after feeling threatened by something, and wanted to keep Roy safe... It's what they were taught.
Seigfried was recently asked if Roy would want to keep his tigers dispite what he said on the way to the hospital, "Don't kill the cat." and Seigfried replied with Of Course he will... soon he gets out of the hospital that'll be the first place he'll go. Back to his cats.


I, for one, do not think he got what was coming to him. Seigfried and Roy have been the only ones to successfully breed and raise white tigers in captivity. They treat them with love and respect, and I think that's how it should stay. If any animal that bit was killed we wouldn't have dogs, cats, birds... nothing.

Originally posted by TradingMooses
That's EXACTLY what I think! I say that and people yell at me, but it's true. If they would've left the tiger, and the rest of the animals, where they belonged, everyone would be fine.

Actually, chances are, they'd be extinct. Siegfried and Roy have successfully bred the tigers and have received nothing but praise for their care. I don't think performing animals are necessary or anything, but when I read about Siegfried and Roy's longstanding care for these animals, I can't help but admire them.

Its a shame the tiger didn't eat him. They deserve it. Keep those animals where they are meant to be.

Originally posted by Nirvana
Its a shame the tiger didn't eat him. They deserve it. Keep those animals where they are meant to be.

They deserve it because they actually care enough for these animals to provide a natural habbitat for them and successfully raise their species so that they're not endangered anymore? Sure, you're a true animal lover :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Liza
They deserve it because they actually care enough for these animals to provide a natural habbitat for them and successfully raise their species so that they're not endangered anymore? Sure, you're a true animal lover :rolleyes:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/rolleyes.gifhttp://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/rolleyes.gifhttp://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/rolleyes.gifhttp://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/rolleyes.gifhttp://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/rolleyes.gifhttp://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/rolleyes.gifhttp://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/rolleyes.gifhttp://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif