Ok, we have all heard how Roy was attacked by his tiger, now here is an acount from the casino owner
Gary Waddell, Anchor
Steve Wynn Gives Exclusive Interview
(Oct. 8) -- Casino mogul Steve Wynn is one of the people who know Siegfried and Roy best. He is one of the duos closest of friends and hired the illusionists when he built The Mirage in 1990. He even built a special theater just for their show.
Wynn gave an exclusive interview to Eyewitness News Anchor, Gary Waddell on Wednesday. He says that what happened Friday night was a fluke, something that never should have occurred. And something that no one could have foreseen. He continued to say that Roy --- even as he was being carried off stage by the tiger -- was saying he didn' t want anything to happen to the cat.
Wynn was in Idaho on Friday night when the incident happened on stage. But he was one of the first people called. He flew home to visit Roy in the hospital on Saturday morning. And then began the task of trying to figure out how something like this could happen.
Wynn said for sure that Montecore did not attack Roy Horn. He said that reports that Roy was attacked are false. That Montecore would never attack Roy. That in a way, the tiger was trying to protect him following a string of unfortunate events that led to the tiger carrying Roy of stage as if he were a cub.
Steve Wynn speaks of the information he gathered from talking to people on the scene:
As Roy was leading Montecore out to stage front on a leash, the cat became fascinated and distracted by woman with a big hairdo who was sitting ringside. Instead of Montecore going down facing forward with Roy, he did a 90 degree turn and faces sideways towards the woman with the big hairdo. For whatever reason, Montecore is fascinated and distracted.
Montecore got down on all fours and puts his 26-inch head four inches away from of the woman. She thinks this is adorable and part of the show and reaches out to try and rub him under his chin. Roy is talking and sees this move. That' s way wrong all the way around. As usual this heroic fellow that he is, Roy jumps between the tiger and the woman.
At that point Roy tried to re-gain the tiger' s attention by pulling back on the leash and saying, " No, no, no, no. Come on, get up" . As if to say, " No, I' m not ready to do what you want me to do yet, " the cat does not respond. Roy continued to command him.
The tiger then gently reached up a grabbed Roy' s right arm in his jaws between Roy' s elbow and wrist in a gentle, playful warning. Roy did not receive so much as a scratch on his arm or his costume. That' s how gentle Montecore' s grip was on Roy. This behavior is similar to how a housecat or a dog might react -- a gentle warning -- without hurting the person it loves.
Roy loudly commanded the cat to release its grip by saying, " No, no, no, no. Release, release," several times. He had to whack him with the rubber microphone several time to try and get the tiger to release its grip. This didn' t hurt the tiger, but did make a loud noise.
Roy continued to pull on Montecore' s leash not realizing that the cat had put its big paw behind one of his legs. Roy falls backwards on stage over the paw of Montecore lying flat on his back. Four stagehands rush out and jump on the cat. Montecore gets confused; he' s supposed to be with Roy walking off stage.
Roy is lying down in front of him with his feet towards the audience, his head towards the curtain. Montecore gets up and as cool as a cucumber, leans over and picks up Roy like a cub on the right side of his neck. Not a bite, not an attack. He picks him up.
There was no damage to Roy' s neck, but there were two puncture wounds and one of those teeth went through Roy' s vertical artery. Severed it, the one behind his neck that' s what caused the stroke and massive bleeding putting him in a near death situation.
Montecore picked up Roy with all the excitement and walks with perfect blocking according to the act. Does his exit at the right speed, right off stage left and goes into his cage, which is where he goes to get transported home.
He goes into the cage and tries to bring Roy in with him. Stagehands backstage used a technique that made Montecore release Roy. They closed the door on Montecore and Roy lay on the floor bleeding. He was then rushed to UMC.
Wynn underscores that Montecore was acting to protect Roy. He explained that during an actual lethal attack, a predator' s instinct is to violently grab its prey by the neck, vigorously shakes its head snapping the neck of its prey. This is not what happened.
While Gary Waddell was with Steve Wynn today, he got a call from Bernie Yuman, Siegfried and Roy' s manager. Yuman said that they had just brought Roy' s dog to visit him in the hospital and that Roy had responded by petting the dog.
That' s good news. And probably pretty good therapy for a man whose life' s work has been loving and caring for animals. Wynn also says he' s been told that they are starting to ween Roy off the life support systems in order to let his body function on its own. If that' s successful, that will be a very big step in Roy' s recovery.
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Caution - Some posts may contain sarcasim
I don' t think they should do anything to the tiger eithr. Those who exploit animals for the entertainment of others should be ready to live or die with the consiquences.
Carrying him offstage like a cub by the FRONT of his neck ? Give me a break ! I' ve seen Mutual of Omaha' s Wild Kingdom enough times that his dog won' t hunt .
Oops ! Dated myself there , didn' t I ?
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lmao fn. I watched Seigfreid Fischbacher (however he spells it!) and their mgr the other night on Larry King Live. This story explains what Fisch was trying to convey (he' s so light in not only his loafers but in spirit and communication abilities that he' s hard to understand). I will not defend them in anyway as they are not only *****, but they are making extremely large and powerful animals perform unnatural acts. But I DO agree with and buy the line that the tiger was NOT trying to hurt Roy. A tiger is one of THE most lethal animals on the planet and if he had a mind to he could take out half the audience before anyone could make it out the doors.
This story certainly answers several questions I had. I wondered how Roy could' ve escaped having a crushed windpipe, a broken neck or even a severed head had the big cat decided to try the " death shake" on his neck. I knew had any of that had happened, he would' nt be alive now.
I could care less about " two ****** lion tamers" but absolutely LOVE those gorgeous white leopards, lions and tigers they have. Personally I think they are THE most awesome, majestic and beautiful creatures on the earth. From what I hear we can only thank " Sigfreid & Roy" for those animals still even being in existence (but I also know the typical " endangered animal" lines espoused by most preservation groups!). I' ve seen them in Vegas and they are breathtaking (tho I refused to see the show as I am not going to knowingly fund a ***** lifestyle!).
When animals attack
