Tom Sellner, Owner Of Cricket Hollow Zoo, Attacked By Tiger During Feeding

MANCHESTER, Iowa -- The owner of a small Iowa zoo has been hospitalized with injuries from a tiger attack.

The Delaware County sheriff's office says 52-year-old Tom Sellner suffered lacerations to his head and torso in the Sunday morning attack at Cricket Hollow Zoo in Manchester. He was flown to an Iowa City hospital. His condition wasn't immediately available.

The sheriff's office says Sellner was attacked while feeding an adult tiger. The tiger was not put down after the attack.

A message left Sunday with the zoo wasn't immediately returned.

The zoo's website says it has more than 300 birds and animals, including tigers, African lions and other exotic cats.

Comments

[Progressivehoosier]

08:20 PM on 07/19/2011

If he can get his knee well and start hitting more fairways in regulation, then he could have a really big advantage on the par fives over the rest of the field. I mean come on, when your hitting your second shot on 550 yarder with 6 iron or less your bound to drop some eagle putts....
Oh....wrong Tiger.........sorry...so so sorry.......

[Marcin A Mazurek]

05:16 PM on 07/19/2011

Ah- wrong article, that was in response to Kipu Falls.
Glad to see they aren't putting down more tigers for no real good reason - I still haven't forgotten the one where a someone climbed into the safely caged off area and got himself ate - Theres dumb, and then there is that.

[Marcin A Mazurek]

05:14 PM on 07/19/2011

"First Amendment Rights" get cut off once people die, adding a disclaimer and some signs would not be a bad idea

Its the same sort of logic that goes with "Trying to sell a man a bridge does not count as first amendment rights, that's called Fraud."

[kareemachan]

10:49 AM on 07/19/2011

From their website:

'All of our animals have names and stories and are part of our family. Most are handraised and socialized with people, so they enjoy the company of our visitors.'

[juliebird]

08:24 AM on 07/19/2011

There are fewer than 5000 tigers alive in the wild. Each day, there is less "wild" for tigers to live in.
Without zoos and animal refuge parks, there would be no tigers.
I know nothing about this particular zoo, but it's naive to say all tigers are better off without zoos.

[IrieMoon]

01:37 PM on 07/19/2011

They are better off without zoos.
They're better off in their natural habitat free from humans and "civilization".

The problem is that humans and civilization has made their natural habitat disappear.

[juliebird]

02:38 PM on 07/19/2011

so. They are better off in a place that doesn't exist.
Sure. (Arent' we all?)
But of all the places that *do* exist, choosing between death or life in a well-maintained zoo, i'm guessing most tigers would choose "zoo." Paws down.

[Angel Moore]

12:12 AM on 07/19/2011

I have only been to a zoo once when I was on high school field trip and seen a leopard in a cage pacing back and forth. I dont know if this is correct but my brother told me the cat had gone psycho from being held in captivity and not having sufficient territory. It made me cry and I aint no sissy. If I want to see wild animals I just watch animal planet. You take a bird who has the gift of flight and freedom to roam the skies and put a chain link fence over its head and take mainy other wild animals who's normal territory spans over miles and miles and cage it in square feet? Sounds like animal cruelty to me. But I am no expert and maybe these animals maybe happy. Happy to attack the owner of the establishment.

[elblanc0]

11:46 PM on 07/18/2011

BREAKING: Wild predator attacks human captor. Is this a surprise to anyone?

[dakotaharp]

10:58 PM on 07/18/2011

I don't go to zoo's or circuses. They beat the animals to do those tricks. Cruelty should not be rewarded.

[tugstew1]

12:58 PM on 07/19/2011

dakotaharp...? wow can not believe that you said they beat animals to do tricks.. you every went to a zoo or the circuse sounds like you have not.go look and learn, please.dont just listen to people,learn for your self, I just can not believe you said that, come over to the real world, go look ,and learn, please, thank you, please have a great and wonderful day

[dakotaharp]

10:35 PM on 07/20/2011

Are you for real?

[AllowMeToObserve]

07:37 PM on 07/18/2011

Cricket Hollow Zoo's website:

"Our main goal is to educate people about the many species of animals that we have here AND TO LEARN RESPECT FOR THESE WONDERFUL ANIMALS AND THEIR HABITATS."

So, you do that by incarcerating them in an unnatural habitat and putting them on display for the entertainment of humans?

[AllowMeToObserve]

04:03 PM on 07/18/2011

SPAM ALERT

[MajorKong]

02:24 PM on 07/18/2011

"That tiger didn't go crazy, it went tiger!" - Chris Rock

[janny09]

02:20 PM on 07/18/2011

States should ban all of these road side zoos, even if the conditions are immaculate. The idea of capture holding has to prompt people to write their legislators to prevent this cruelty to animals. I can't imagine people keeping wild animals as pets or in zoos, what are they thinking? They're wild; it's their instinct of self preservation. The Tiger found in the Brooklynn apartment, the chimp who ripped that lady's face off, the python who killed a child; all of these stories are about stupid people doing stupid things. Common sense alone should keep people from these kinds of pets but unless states enact strict laws, these type of events will continue to happen, as some of these animals are killed because they reacted naturally.

[bad spelling grammar]

04:21 PM on 07/18/2011

You are right about the cases you mentioned but captive breeding programs IS the only hope for some of the species until people/ governments start prioritizing conservation. Keeping a healthy gene pool is critical to the long term survival of these animals.

[Macawmom]

04:52 PM on 07/18/2011

Yes, guppies are responsible for so many deaths. Parrots, too. The vast majority of wild animals are harmless, and to ban them based on the few is over-reach to say the least. In aquarium keeping, captive breeding by pet owners/hobbyists is keeping several species going after coming close to extinction in the wild. Parrots are captive-bred - it's illegal to import a wild parrot into the US for pet sales (yes, they're smuggled, but that would not end if the keeping of captive-breds were illegal). Agree that tigers and chimps should not be kept unless you can meet the zoo association guidelines, but to ban them all isn't appropriate. I'm waiting to see pictures of killer guppies.

[WindFeathers]

02:06 PM on 07/18/2011

They are called big cats for reason?
Even House cats attack periodically lucky for us they are small but still pack a punch.
Ouch!

[mairs]

02:43 PM on 07/18/2011

I was thinking that too. If the domesticated house cat were several hundred pounds, it would be as dangerous as a lion or tiger, even as tame as they are normally.

[bcmom]

01:40 PM on 07/18/2011

Love those small mom and pop zoos!

[cindyw]

02:09 PM on 07/18/2011

I'm guessing that was sarcasm, right? Even a large zoo is a terrible place for a tiger.

[bart4u]

01:29 PM on 07/18/2011

The tiger does not want to be in a cage so we can not fault the tiger.