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Fatal mauling by tigers

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Abstract

Lethal injuries due to large animal attack are uncommon in routine forensic practice in Europe. Specifically, few incidents are reported concerning tiger/lion attacks that usually involve captive circus or zoo animals. We present the case of a 61-year old animal tamer who was mauled to death by four tigers while he was training them for a circus performance. Careful investigation of the circumstances surrounding the fatality revealed that the tamer had most likely been struck with a tiger paw and then mauled by additional tigers resulting in serious and fatal injuries. Although a full medico-legal autopsy was not authorized, total body CT scan coupled with post-mortem external examination allowed a reconstruction of events.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine (DIM), Institute of Legal Medicine, Policlinico di Bari Hospital, University of Bari, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124, Bari, Italy

    Claudia Perrone, Biagio Solarino & Francesco Vinci

  2. Discipline of Anatomy and Pathology, The University of Adelaide, Frome Rd, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia

    Roger W. Byard

Authors
  1. Claudia Perrone
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  2. Roger W. Byard
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  3. Biagio Solarino
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  4. Francesco Vinci
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Correspondence to Claudia Perrone.

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Perrone, C., Byard, R.W., Solarino, B. et al. Fatal mauling by tigers. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 16, 718–720 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-020-00250-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-020-00250-3

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