[FEL-L] RE: Tiger swats its owner inside cage

[Bigcats10 at aol.com]

Tiger swats its owner inside cage

The owner, from a circus family, says his injury "comes with the  territory." 
He was hurt while cleaning the cage.

By BEN MONTGOMERY
Published September 13, 2006

 
____________________________________

        
[Times photo: Skip  O'Rourke]
Lancelot Kollmann has 14 tigers along with two  leopards, four jaguars and 
five lions. He recently bought the female  tiger, Rula (not shown here), that 
clawed him.
 
____________________________________

BALM - Lancelot Kollmann stumbled Tuesday, inside a cage with a jittery  
250-pound tiger named Rula. He paid in blood.  
The last in a long line of lion tamers escaped the cage with cuts on his left 
 shoulder and a gash on his lip that took stitches to close. 
"It comes with the territory," a weary-looking Kollmann said at his rural  
eastern Hillsborough County compound, where lions and tigers roam in a row of  
cages and a sign bears a number to call "In case of emergency." 
Kollmann's family has been in traveling circuses for more than 200 years. His 
 grandfather was a lion tamer. His father and uncles owned big cats. Other 
kin  were jugglers, high-wire artists, acrobats. 
Kollmann started at age 10, feeding and washing the beasts. Tuesday was the  
first time he has been injured, he said. 
It happened like this: He was cleaning Rula's cage late Tuesday morning when  
he stumbled. He braced his fall with his arm, but he startled the 1½-year-old 
 female he bought a few days ago.  
Then she swiped him with a claw. 
A neighbor took Kollmann to South Bay Hospital in Sun City Center, where  
doctors treated his wounds and released him by afternoon. 
"She was just scared," said Kollmann, 37, a barrel-chested man who performed  
in arenas dressed as a gladiator. "It wasn't a bite, just a claw." 
He's recovering from his wounds, which weren't serious, but the beat-up lion  
tamer isn't in the clear yet. 
State officials say Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lt. Steve De  
Lacure, who recently wrapped up an investigation into the high-profile tiger  
attack at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, will investigate the Kollmann incident. 
Kollmann owns an animal business in Balm called Sir Lance A Lot, deputies  
say.  
He is licensed by the state to exhibit exotic animals, including two  
leopards, four jaguars, one elephant, five lions and 14 tigers, wildlife  commission 
spokesman Willie Puz said. His license is valid through October. 
The U.S. Agriculture Department gave him permission to exhibit the animals in 
 January 2005, and he's had a valid license since, department spokesman Darby 
 Holladay said. Kollmann hasn't had any problems with the license, Holladay  
said. 
But his family is well known to both agencies. 
In 2000, Kollmann's father, Manuel Ramos, was forced to give up his license  
to avoid prosecution for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and  
sentenced to probation for improperly handling an elephant. 
The African elephant, Kenya, broke loose from a tether at the family's  
compound in Riverview, stomping Kollmann's aunt, acrobat Teresa Ramos-Caballero,  
to death. 
Ramos, who owned the Oscarian Brothers Circus, agreed to serve one year of  
probation, perform community service and pay investigative costs in the  case. 
Ramos faced misdemeanor charges of keeping animals in cages that were too  
small for them, and mishandling the elephant. The Agriculture Department also  
accused him of failing to screen the elephant handlers, including Kollmann, for 
 tuberculosis, which is required. 
His license was revoked in July 2000, records show. 
Ramos turned over the family's livelihood to his son, Kollmann, who built a  
$35,000 compound in Balm. 
At first, the Agriculture Department refused to give Kollmann a license to  
exhibit the animals, which meant they could not travel with the family's 
circus.  But federal officials and the family eventually reached a settlement. 
The attack marks the second time in recent weeks that tigers have made  
headlines in Hillsborough County. 
On Aug. 22, Lowry Park Zoo officials shot and killed a 14-year-old Sumatran  
tiger, Enshala, after the animal slipped out of her enclosure through an  
unlocked door. 
The zoo's director shot Enshala after she lunged at a veterinarian who was  
trying to tranquilize her. 
The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Agriculture  
Department investigated the incident. Wildlife commission officials completed  
their investigation Monday of the Lowry Park Zoo case. 
The case is now in the hands of prosecutors, who will decide whether to file  
criminal charges against a zookeeper who left a door unlocked, allowing the  
tiger to escape. 
Prosecutors expect that the decision will take a few weeks, Assistant State  
Attorney Jennifer Gabbard said. 
Ben Montgomery can be reached at _bmontgomery at sptimes.com_ 
(mailto:bmontgomery at sptimes.com)  or 813  661-2443. 
OWNING A TIGER  
To own a tiger in Florida, a resident is required to: 
* Own or lease at least 5 contiguous acres of land. 
* Build cages that are surrounded by a fence that is at least 8 feet  high. 
* Specify what commercial purpose the animal will be used for, such as a pet  
shop, wildlife lectures or a traveling circus act. 
* Document at least one year of substantial practical experience caring for,  
feeding, handling and husbandry of tigers or similar animals. 
* Secure a permit from the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation  Commission. 
For information, go to "Wildlife Dealers, Owners and Exhibitors" at  
http://myfwc.com/license_permit/index.aspx. 
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 
[Last modified September 13, 2006, 05:38:32] 
 
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