Oct. 10, 2003
Living with Tigers trainer Dave Salmoni said last week's mauling of "Siegfried & Roy" entertainer Roy Horn was similar to the price eventually paid by many of those who work closely with big cats.

"Cats are opportunists," says Salmoni. "They will kill you if they get a chance. They may share some of your emotions, but they won't have any problem with killing you if you make a mistake. My cats will kill me, no problem," given the chance, he adds, referring to Bengal tigers Ron and Julie.

Salmoni speculates that Roy Horn's tiger, Montecore, a 600-pound male, was challenging him for dominance during the Oct. 3 mauling in Las Vegas. "The cat grabbed him and tried to go to his cage, to take him to his territory. It was a challenge for dominance and Roy, who's 59 years old, lost."

Horn was bitten on the neck and dragged offstage before the tiger could be subdued. Horn remains hospitalized in critical condition.

John Kirtland, executive director of animal stewardship for Feld Entertainment Inc., the parent company of the long-running Siegfried & Roy show at The Mirage in Las Vegas, says he believes the tiger did not intend to harm Horn.

"The more I've learned about this as it developed over the last week, the less inclined I am to believe what happened was an attack," says Kirtland, a former tiger trainer who still works with rhinos, giraffes and elephants. "They are in a very carefully choreographed routine. Roy fell. People on the stage started running toward Roy. That was when the tiger grabbed him by the neck and shoulder and dragged him offstage. This was actually a protective gesture by this tiger. If the tiger intended to kill Roy, we'd be writing an obit."

Salmoni says most big-cat handlers are eventually attacked by their animals, and many are killed. "I don't know of many cat trainers who haven't been nailed once or twice," he says.