Why Big Cat Acts Are a Dangerous Business

Nov. 20, 2003 — -- As the tiger attack on Roy Horn painfully showed, it is a tricky balancing act between the illusion of danger and real danger for performers who use animals that must be constantly conditioned not to attack, and their audiences.

Horn, half of Siegfried & Roy, remains in serious but stable condition after being mauled by one of his own tigers while performing Oct. 3 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. He lost enormous amounts of blood and suffered a small stroke after a tiger grabbed his throat during a live performance.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it is investigating the Siegfried & Roy act to determine whether there was any violation of the Animal Welfare Act.

There have also been questions in the show business community about the safety of stage shows using wild animals. There are only a handful of magic acts using wild animals in Las Vegas, and not many more in the rest of the country. Yet there are plenty of theories about what happened to Horn.

"There's no doubt in my mind that the tiger intended to kill Roy," said magician Kirby VanBurch

VanBurch didn't witness the attack on Horn, but he has seen Siegfried & Roy's showfour times, and he does not buy theories that the tiger was distracted by the audience, or tried to protect Horn when he fell.

"Either Roy fell or his posture changed and it was a weakness," VanBurch said. Tigers, sensing weakness, can quickly turn on their trainers, he said.

It Could Happen to Others

"Roy Horn was the best and if it happened to Roy, then it could happen to those other guys," VanBurch said. He has performed with exotic animals for more than 20 years — currently, in Branson, Mo. — and recognizes what he calls a wild cat's three stages of anger.

"A phase one is if the cat were to grab you by the arm," VanBurch sad. "You have to stop itby patting them on the nose. Now, phase two is when the cat bears down harder. And what it's doing is its establishing authority."