Siegrfried Fischbacher, of Siegfried and Roy, has an interesting perspective on Roy’s near-fatal mauling. From Siegfried Says Tiger Attack Was an Accident:
The tiger was trying to help Roy after the magician took a fall, Fischbacher said in an interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live” program.“I just saw that the tiger grabbed him on the sleeve … and Roy said, ‘Let go,’ and the tiger let go and Roy bent back and he slipped,” Fischbacher said.
He said he realized there could be trouble as the tiger moved toward Horn.
“The tiger (grabbed) Roy in the neck and he pulled him back on stage,” Fischbacher said.
He said that the animal sensed heightened danger when he and an animal trainer ran to Horn’s aid. “So he took Roy and put him backstage behind the curtain… to protect him and then he let Roy go,” Fischbacher said.
“I say it was an accident,” he said, adding that if the tiger wanted to kill Horn it would have done so very quickly.
Remind me not to get a helpful tiger sidekick.