Siegfried speaks about the tiger attack on his partner Roy.http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=137020
Was Tiger Trying to Help?
Oct 9, 9:23 AM EST
Associated Press
The tiger that injured Roy Horn of the duo "Siegfried & Roy" had been trying to help the illusionist after he slipped and accidentally harmed him by using too much force, says Horn's partner, Siegfried Fischbacher.
"A cat is a tiger and when he wants to protect his pal he does it the way a tiger does, with his strength," Fischbacher said in an interview broadcast Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "But we are human; we are a little more fragile."
"The cat realized there was something wrong," he said. "Roy slipped, I run after, all my animal handlers run after, so he was just confused."
Fischbacher said Wednesday on CNN's "Larry King Live" that he had been standing backstage when Horn was wounded by the Royal White tiger named Montecore.
The illusionist tripped and the tiger lunged, grabbing Horn's arm, Fischbacher said. After Horn tried to free himself by hitting the tiger on the head with a microphone, the 600-pound animal took hold of his neck and then dragged him offstage. Show workers set off fire extinguishers backstage to distract the tiger, which then scurried to his cage.
Fischbacher said the tiger didn't intend to kill Horn. If that was the case, he said, "I wouldn't be here, Roy wouldn't be here." (Aside: This is what I suspected, the tiger could easily have killed Roy on the spot had that been its intention.)
According to Fischbacher, Horn muttered after the attack: "Don't harm the cat."
Fischbacher hinted at a return to the stage if Horn recovers, saying the duo would "take a different path, I'm sure, but ... the show is our life."
The duo's manager Bernie Yuman told The Associated Press early Thursday that Siegfried would never continue to perform without his longtime partner. "It is Siegfried and Roy and that's the way it began and that's the way it will always be," he said.
Fischbacher said Horn still can't talk but is communicating through hand signals — one gesture for "yes," two for "no."
In an interview with The Associated Press, Fischbacher confirmed that Horn suffered a stroke after the attack but did not discuss Horn's injuries or whether Horn is expected to recover fully.
"We take it hour by hour, day by day," Fischbacher said.
The cat remains quarantined at the casino. The federal Agriculture Department is investigating.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. Thank you, AP.
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