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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Topic: Roy mauled by Tiger
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 10-05-2003 10:52 PM
According to what I have read on FoxNews.com, the tiqer in question was a "rookie". Roy was on stage telling the audience that the tiger, "Ceasar" was making his on-stage debut.
As to Roy's condition, I heard on NPR news that Roy is still in critical condition but he is "communicative". Doctors aren't saying whether he is going to make it or not but the way I see it, he's making progress, at least. Cross our fingers. Hope and pray.
Keeping wild animals in captivity is a double-edged sword, IMO.
Yes, they should be allowed to be free whenever possible. There's habitat destruction, poaching, pollution and all those things KILLING animals in the wild. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to stop that.
When populations get low a problem arises with "shallow gene pools". There comes a time when there aren't enough animals to provide genetic diversity in the wild. Eventually, inbreeding will kill off the rest of the population. This is exactly what's happening to cheetahs right now. The way it looks right now, we could cordon off huge tracts of land and turn them into "cheeta sancuaries" and it STILL wouldn't help. Even if we could wave a magic wand and remove all human influence, the birth rate of cheetahs in the wild will not be able to sustain the population. Most young cheetahs in the wild die at (or near) birth due to congenital defects brought on by inbreeding. The ONLY way to reverse this is to use the genetic material from cheetahs in captivity to "reseed" the geene pool in the wild. Problem is that they may be too far gone to help. Check out www.cheetah.org
So... Tigers... Let's hope they aren't too far gone. Keeping some tigers MAY be what saves them from going the way of the cheetah. The way I see it, shows like Sigfried & Roy do two things: First, they raise awareness of the problem. If people see animals for real they might think about keeping them around. Second, some of the money raised from the shows could go toward conservation.
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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!
Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 10-06-2003 01:55 AM
Don't ya just love the way news gets reported? ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
First of all, the S&R show is not "permanently" cancelled at this point. For now, all performances through the end of the year have been cancelled "indefinitely." MGM-Mirage is waiting to see Roy's prognosis before deciding what to do with the show, which was just signed to a lifetime contract a couple of years ago. The 250+ cast and crew were told yesterday to consider other employment opportunities, probably good advice given the uncertainty of the situation. The show is going to be down for what looks like quite a while, but it is not permanently cancelled--at least not yet. We should know more in the next few days.
Second, the cat in question is named "Montecore" and has been with the show for several years. The 7-year-old cat was born into the show, and is certainly not a "rookie." In the act Roy does state each night that this is this cat's first time on stage, but that is just a line designed to get an "ooh's and ah's" reaction from the audience. Montecore is one of about 50 cats trained for use in the show--the animals are rotated through the approximately 20 appearance slots in each show.
Here's the latest Las Vegas Review-Journal article: TIGER ATTACK: Roy's Injuries 'Severe'
Magician remains in critical condition after suffering stroke, undergoing second surgery
By MIKE WEATHERFORD
REVIEW-JOURNAL
The official status of superstar magician Roy Horn never changed from "critical but stable" Saturday, one day after he was badly mauled by a white tiger during a performance at The Mirage.
But among his circle of friends and colleagues, the cautious optimism that first emerged late Friday night took a downward turn over the course of the day.
Horn's initial surgery at University Medical Center Trauma Center ended about 11:30 p.m. Friday. A hospital source said Horn had to be resuscitated during that surgery.
Horn, who turned 59 Friday, was moved to another part of the hospital about 12:40 a.m. Saturday.
A hospital source said Horn subsequently suffered a stroke and was returned to surgery about 9:30 a.m. to relieve severe pressure on his brain.
MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman declined to discuss specifics of Horn's condition or treatment. "Updates on an hour-by-hour basis are not going to lead to clarity," he said.
Feldman said Horn, who with his partner Siegfried Fischbacher has performed in Las Vegas for more than three decades, remained in critical but stable condition Saturday.
Feldman acknowledged the injuries were "extremely severe" and involved a lot of blood loss. He said it could be two or three days before doctors know the full impact of the injuries.
"When these things happen, you need to spend some time with the patient to know what the long-term implications will be," Feldman said.
Late Saturday night, Feldman said there was some encouraging news that had begun in the afternoon and continued into the evening. "Roy has been able to have some limited communication," he said.
He cautioned that the performer's condition was subject to change. "We take this hour by hour."
Fischbacher released a written statement Saturday.
"For more than four decades, I have had the great privilege of standing at the side of this remarkable man, and I will continue to do so during this very challenging time.
"We are grateful and overwhelmed with the tremendous support we have received from around the world, and ask for your continued prayers and reflection," he said.
The attack occurred about 45 minutes into the magicians' 7:30 p.m. show before 1,503 people.
Montecore, a 7-year-old white tiger, refused a command to lie down and then clamped his jaws on Horn's right arm.
The native of Germany repeatedly struck the animal in the head with a microphone. The male tiger then lunged at Horn, clamped its jaws around his neck and pulled him out of the audience's view.
"There were a couple of gasps, and people thought it was part of the act, and then it was real quiet," said audience member Paul D'Antonio, who sat about 15 feet from the stage.
About five minutes after the attack, a visibly shaken Fischbacher returned to the stage and told audience members the remainder of the show was canceled.
Emergency crews were dispatched to The Mirage at 8:21 p.m. Paramedics with Southwest Ambulance were on the scene of the attack by 8:25 p.m.
Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said paramedics found Horn suffering from severe blood loss and labored breathing.
By the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital, paramedics had stopped the massive bleeding and Horn was rushed into surgery.
Friends began flocking to the hospital while Horn underwent surgery. The initial procedure ended about 11:30 p.m. Friday.
Friends and associates were stunned by the injury to the charming, happy-go-lucky performer who seemed to have an uncanny communication with animals.
"Roy is fearless," said Bernie Yuman, the longtime personal manager of Siegfried & Roy. Regardless, "he's always cognizant of the fact that anything can occur."
Lynette Chappell, the duo's longtime leading lady, was among those waiting for news at the Trauma Center on Friday night.
Chappell said she had completed her role in the opening segment of the show and was about to get on a treadmill in her dressing room when she heard the commotion in the backstage hallways.
She said the tiger attack was "not malicious, just an accident."
Just before midnight Friday, she and others welcomed news that Horn was out of surgery and breathing on his own.
"I'll take any positive news I can get," Chappell said.
Fellow magician Lance Burton also was on hand at the hospital.
Burton said he had received eight cell phone messages within minutes of finishing his own show at the Monte Carlo, including one from a magician in Singapore.
Burton noted that Siegfried & Roy opened their landmark revue "Beyond Belief" at the Frontier in November 1981, just six months before he came to town.
"They're the guys who opened the door to magic," he said.
Phil Misiura, the show's general manager, said he found no fault with the first-aid measures taken backstage before paramedics arrived.
The backstage area is equipped with first-aid kits and certain crew members were trained in emergency procedures, but had never rehearsed specific drills for animal attacks, Misiura said.
More than 250 people who work on the show, including cast and stagehands, met with show producers in the showroom Saturday evening.
The affected employees, many of whom have been with the show since it opened Feb. 1, 1990, were told the show will be closed indefinitely.
"We wanted to be as honest as we could," Feldman said. "They may very well need to consider other options in their careers."
MGM Mirage Chairman Terry Lanni released a statement saying Siegfried & Roy are "so much more than the stars of The Mirage, they are the very heart of our resort."
Those who work with tigers and other animals say the plush toys in the gift shop and the gleaming smiles onstage can make people forget an important fact.
"The big cats are always a wild animal, even with all the gentle training and habit-forming techniques," said Dirk Arthur, one of several illusionists who works with exotic cats in a niche of show business that Horn pioneered.
Arthur performs downtown at the Plaza with eight tigers and leopards of his own.
"I often equate it to being a race-car driver," he says. "You know it's dangerous, but you try to make it as safe as you can through layers of safety and rituals of checks and double checks."
Horn is known for being strict with trainers and intolerant of "anything rough or negative," Arthur says.
The attack came during a portion of the show when Roy parades the tiger across the stage on a leash. Though the animals can weigh 500 pounds, Arthur says a skilled trainer needs no more than the leash to restrain them.
"Roy is an expert at using sideways leverage on the front feet," he says.
Arthur echoes Horn's career-long philosophy when he says, "You blame yourself. Never the cat."
Montecore is featured prominently in Siegfried & Roy's photo calendar and the television commercial for the Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy.
He previously was known as one of the most cooperative animals and "a favorite of most of the handlers," said a source close to the operation.
The tiger is being housed in its usual quarters.
About 50 lions and tigers are housed behind the Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy public attraction at The Mirage.
That well-scrubbed facility features indoor-outdoor runs, shower stalls for animal grooming and a "maternity ward" to further Horn's cradle-to-grave philosophy of animal handling.
If a person is there at the birth, Horn once explained, both mother and cub accept that person as a surrogate father.
Horn's zenlike empathy with animals is a cultivated theme of the show, which features film footage of him cavorting with tigers in pools at the "Jungle Palace" Siegfried & Roy once shared north of Vegas Drive near Decatur Boulevard.
Fischbacher now lives in Spanish Trail, while Horn divides his time between the Jungle Palace and "Little Bavaria," a larger spread near the Santa Fe.
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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000
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posted 10-06-2003 05:59 PM
Here's another spin of the incident, from wftv.com
http://www.wftv.com/news/2533576/detail.html
Roy Horn Of 'Siegfried & Roy' Critical But Improving
POSTED: 6:52 a.m. EDT October 6, 2003
UPDATED: 4:42 p.m. EDT October 6, 2003
LAS VEGAS -- Even as the blood was pouring from his neck, Roy Horn, of Siegfried & Roy, reportedly told paramedics not to kill the tiger that attacked him.
Report On Roy Horn's Medical Condition
Horn remains in critical condition after being mauled by a tiger during Friday night's performance in Las Vegas.
But it could be days before doctors have a prognosis for him.
More details are emerging about the attack occurred halfway through Friday night's performance at The Mirage hotel-casino.
The New York Daily News reports Roy was still conscious when emergency crews arrived.
A family friend says Roy told paramedics "do not kill the cat."
His manager says Roy doesn't blame the tiger. Bernie Yuman says "the last place Roy would place blame would be with the animal."
The white Siberian has been a cooperative cat. But on Friday night, he didn't want to walk in the right direction. So Roy hit him on the cheek with his microphone five times.
After the fifth time, the tiger, which weighs about 600 pounds, attacked. The animal grabbed at Horn's arm, causing the entertainer to stumble.
The tiger then lunged at Horn, who tried to beat the animal away with the microphone. It bit into the left side of Horn's neck and dragged him off stage by the neck. The attack barely missed severing Horn's carotid artery.
The stage crew used fire extinguishers to distract the tiger and free him. He was rushed to a hospital and went into surgery.
Horn's undergone several surgeries since Friday's attack.
Yuman says the tiger is in a holding pen at the hotel. But it's not clear what will ultimately happen to it.
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Hundreds of people gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil outside the hospital.
Many of the more than 200 people who went to the vigil were show employees who came to support Roy.
Those who attended chanted, "We love you Roy," and signed a giant get-well card.
MGM Mirage officials also delivered some good news at the vigil.
Roy was able to move his hands and feet Sunday, a sign that his condition is improving.
That's something officials haven't been able to say since he was mauled by the tiger Friday night.
But many of the employees were also upset about losing their jobs. MGM Mirage officials have promised to help them find new employment.
The Future Of 'Siegfried & Roy'
If you haven't already caught "Siegfried & Roy" in Las Vegas, most likely, you'll never get the chance again.
Shortly after his partner was dragged behind the stage by that tiger Friday night, Siegfried Fischbacher came onto the stage and told the packed house the performance was canceled.
Later, officials at the Mirage Hotel said the show's canceled indefinitely.
Siegfried and Roy signed a lifetime contract with The Mirage two years ago. They perform six shows a week, 44 weeks out of the year. They've been onstage in Las Vegas for more than 35 years, starting at the Tropicana.
Siegfried and Roy met in 1957, when both were entertaining on a cruise ship.
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Notice how in this article, it is said the tiger didn't walk in the right direction, so he hit it 5 times with the microphone, then it attacked. In other versions, it's the tiger attacked, then he hit it.
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