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." In phase two, VanBurch said, he would stand up against the cat, assert his authority, and the animal will back down every single time. But then there's phase three.

"In a phase three, the cat says: 'No, are you really, really in charge? Prove it,' " VanBurch said. "That's a very serious thing — it's a killing time."

When this happens, VanBurch says he sprays the animal with a fire extinguisher, and, possibly, a tranquilizerfired from a blow gun. A .38-caliber pistol would be the last resort.

Yet, most magicians can't imagine killing their own animals. Kelsey Kara tours the world with herhusband and their black leopard in an act called "The Magic and Illusions ofGarry Carson and Kelsey."

Kara loves the leopard she's raised for more than four years, but she never steps into her cage alone.

‘Not Their Fault’

She said that when animals attack, it is a natural thing for them to do.

"Its not their fault. The cats have done nothing wrong," Kara said. "They're doing what is instinctive to them."

It takes years of conditioning to make sure wild cats recognize who is in charge. But once trained,the animals can pay off.

"It is a desire for the audience to see this type of thing on stage," Kara said. "Producersrequest it and casinos request it."

Wild animals are still requested, even after Roy's accident. One magician in Renorecently stopped using a tiger — but only because it was getting too old, not because of the attack.

Fear in the Cage

Michael Giles and fiancée Stacy Jones, who perform as The Majestix, continue to use two Bengal tigers and a cougar in their Las Vegas magic act, despite what happened to Horn. "It doesn't change anything.It just reminds us why we're doing what we're doing," Giles said. "When you walk into the cage, you know, there's a little bit of fear. And to me, anybody that doesn't have that fear should not be working with these animals at all because thenyou lose all respect for the possibility of what these animals can do to you."

The USDA issues licenses to exhibit wild animals, which are typically bought from breeders. Some 95 government inspectors make, on average, once-a-year surprise inspections of acts with performing animals.

"I think that the government should be more involved," VanBurch said. "It's way too easy for people to have animals and within my industry a lot of guys, they don't have the revenue to employ the people to take care of the animals and to keep it safe."

But it's the lack of safety, real or imagined, the spectacle, that is the draw for these shows. It may just be the thrill of potential danger, with nothing separating audiences from these jungle animals except a magician and a leash.