Tiger Attacks in Missouri

By Margaret Lyons in News on Aug 5, 2008 8:34PM

A 16-year-old was mauled by three tigers at a zoo in Missouri yesterday. Dakota Ramel, who works at the facility, was attacked at Branson Interactive Zoo and Aquarium, formerly known as Predator World. He was apparently in the tiger pen taking a picture for a zoo patron when the attack happened.

"While in the pen with the tigers, one of the tigers jumped on the victim and knocked him to the ground," Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill said in a news release. "At that point, two other tigers joined in the attack and drug the victim to a water pool."

Other employees were able to hold the tigers back with a CO2 extinguisher and pulled the teen from the cage before emergency responders arrived....

Or maybe the tigers were helping him. Either way, Ramel was airlifted to a hospital where he remains in critical condition.

It was the second tiger attack in Missouri in as many days. Another tiger jumped an 8-to-10-foot tall gate to attack a 26-year-old man at Wesa-A-Geh-Ya animal farm in Warrenton. The man is expected to make a full recovery. [News-Leader, AP, NBC 5, AP, photo by ucumari]