The year is 2003. Magician, Roy Horn, one half of the famous Las Vegas act, Siegfried and Roy, is attacked by Montecore, a White Bengal tiger, causing massive blood loss and a stroke. It leaves him paralysed.
The year is 2009. Stamford, Connecticut. Travis, a 14-year-old chimpanzee, who had appeared in numerous commercials and TV shows, turns on a friend of its owner, leaving the friend grievously mauled.
The year is 2010. SeaWorld, Orlando. Tilikum, an Orca, kills three in one of the most notorious cases of a captive animal becoming frenzied.
History is littered with examples of humans thinking they could tame a wild beast; each one a rational actor who thought they understood situations with some degree of unpredictability.
