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

Wed Sep 13 19:15:35 CDT 2006

Irony raises its head.

If the tiger had been declawed he would not have been so injured by the swat 
and this wouldn't be in the news.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Maybe this needs to be pointed out to USDA...

Ray

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Bigcats10 at aol.com>
To: <phoenix_exotics at yahoogroups.com>; <Felines-l at catbox.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 12:52 PM
Subject: [Phoenix_Exotics] RE: Tiger swats its owner inside cage

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]

_http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/13/Hillsborough/Tiger_swats_its_owner.shtml_
(http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/13/Hillsborough/Tiger_swats_its_owner.shtml)

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