Illusionist Roy Mauled by Tiger

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Roy Horn, one half of the illusionist team Siegfried & Roy, was on a ventilator, heavily medicated but able to respond to voices and touch, an official with MGM Mirage Resort said, after being attacked by one of his tigers during a nightly show.

Horn underwent surgery late Friday at University Medical Center after suffering an injury to the left side of his neck when the tiger bit him and dragged him off stage. He was hospitalized in critical condition late Saturday.

"We are guarded, optimistic," MGM Mirage Resort CEO Bobby Baldwin said. "We are pleased the news isn't worse than it is."

Hospital officials would not provide any more information, but the mood was somber among the host of Las Vegas notables who went to see the magician.

"I'm pretty much on a vigil," said Bernie Yuman, the duo's longtime manager.

Alan Feldman, an MGM Mirage spokesman, said Saturday that it will likely take two or three days before the full extent of Horn's injuries is known.

Horn and longtime partner Siegfried Fischbacher have been a Las Vegas Strip staple for years, performing their magic show to sold-out crowds at The Mirage hotel-casino. The shows, with their signature white tigers and lions, are among the best known and most expensive on the Strip.

"For more than four decades, I have had the great privilege of standing at the side of this remarkable man, and I will continue to do so during this very challenging time," Fischbacher said in a statement Saturday.

Halfway into Friday night's performance, Horn appeared alone on stage with the tiger and told the crowd the animal was making its debut in the show — a claim hotel officials said was part of the act.

The tiger, which weighs about 600 pounds, then lunged at Horn, who tried to beat the animal off with a microphone.

"I knew he was in trouble right away. I was horrified," said Diane Weightman, who was in the audience. "I wanted to jump on stage and help him. I didn't know what to do."

Andy Cushman, also in the audience, said Horn "looked like a rag doll" as the tiger dragged him off the stage.

Feldman said stage crew members used fire extinguishers to distract the animal and free Roy.

After the attack, Fischbacher appeared on stage and told the 1,500 audience members the performance was canceled, Cushman said.

Feldman said late Saturday the show was "closed indefinitely." He said 267 show employees met at the Mirage hotel-casino, where hotel managers encouraged them to find new jobs.

The tiger involved in the attack, a 7-year-old male named Montecore, was quarantined at the hotel, officials said. Feldman said the animal had been used in the show for several years.

Horn, who turned 59 on Friday, had never been injured during a show before. "Not a scratch, not by an animal," Yuman said.

The illusionists signed a lifetime contract with The Mirage in 2001. The German-born pair perform six shows a week, 44 weeks per year and have been onstage in Las Vegas for more than 35 years.

Siegfried and Roy were at sea, working on an ocean liner, when they met in 1957. Siegfried performed the magic tricks, while Roy was his assistant. After suggesting they try to make a cheetah disappear, Roy smuggled one of the animals from a German zoo and used it as part of their act, according to the duo's official Web site.

The pair traveled around Europe, performing for five years before they got their break in a Monte Carlo casino. An agent in the audience, impressed by their show, invited them to Las Vegas. Siegfried and Roy made their debut at the Tropicana hotel-casino in 1967.

Source: AP

ROY HORN RETURNS HOME

Illusionist Roy Horn has returned home for the first time since being mauled onstage by a tiger in October.

The German cabaret star has been hospitalized since he was dragged offstage during a show in Las Vegas by tiger Montecore.

The news of his steady recovery is sure to please his partner and close friend Siegried Fischbacher, who previously said he hoped Roy would be home in time for Christmas.

Government Seeks Tape of Roy Horn Tiger Attack

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Government investigators want a videotape of a tiger attack last year on Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, but the company behind the Las Vegas magic act said it fears the horrific images would be shown to the public.

Feld Entertainment Inc. said on Wednesday it offered to let authorities to view the tape, but insisted on maintaining possession because otherwise it believed the footage "would quickly end up in the hands of the media who would then sensationalize this horrible tragedy."

Horn almost died after a 600-pound white tiger grabbed him by the neck and dragged him off stage during a performance at the Mirage hotel-casino on Oct. 3, 2003.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking into the mauling under the federal Animal Welfare Act and has subpoenaed the tape.

Feld, based in Vienna, Virginia, said Horn and partner Siegfried Fischbacher do not want "images of this tragic accident being accessible to children and families all around the world."

The company said USDA officials had seen another videotape of the attack and could call upon the "1,503 audience members who witnessed the incident" for their accounts.

Horn suffered a stroke after the attack that left him partially paralyzed and caused the popular act to close.

The USDA also is looking into the Ringling Bros. circus, which is run by Feld, for the death of one its lions July 12 as it was being transported on a train through the Mojave Desert.

In an earlier statement about the lion death, the company said it "always cooperates fully with USDA officials."

The USDA has not commented, except to confirm that investigations are underway.

Why has it taken them over a year to launch an investigation into this?

Horn will offer some answers on TV show

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LAS VEGAS — Roy Horn has never spoken publicly about the incident in which a 380-pound white tiger named Montecore nearly mauled him to death.

So when NBC airs the special "Siegfried & Roy: The Miracle" at 9 p.m. Wednesday (KING), viewers will hear Horn for the first time and see his battle to regain his motor skills after the tiger attack — and subsequent debilitating stroke — left him in a wheelchair.

"That's been the remarkable part of this thing," said Jason Raff, the show's executive producer and director. "He really let us in to see the good days and bad days. I believe they gave us an unprecedented look."

In his own words, Raff said, Horn will attempt to answer what happened that terrifying night during a live performance at The Mirage hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. He'll be interviewed by Maria Shriver in one of her first TV assignments since becoming California's first lady.

But viewers shouldn't expect the definitive account.

"We will offer a very thorough look," Raff said. "Will we answer every question? No. We will not answer every question."

As Shriver noted, "No one is 100 percent sure what happened that night."

The special probably won't include the closely guarded footage of the Oct. 3 accident that was taped by Feld Entertainment, the company that produced the wildly popular Siegfried & Roy show.

"To the best of our ability, we do a moment-by-moment account with lots of information that hasn't been reported yet," Raff said. The incident, which occurred on Horn's 59th birthday, left the entertainer close to death.

The special — produced by the network's entertainment division — includes interviews with some of the 1,500 audience members and show staff who witnessed the horrifying attack, as well as the paramedics who treated Horn in those first crucial minutes.

The program was filmed over several months, mostly in Las Vegas, where Horn and Shriver, a longtime friend of Horn's, visit a caged Montecore.

- Seatle Times