Remember Siegfried and Roy? They’re a German American duo whose show was mandatory viewing on the Las Vegas strip, right up until one of the tigers used in their act decided to maul half of the team.

Well, it seems that you can recover well from tiger mauling, which is good news for any zoo keeper/Vegas entertainer. The last report I heard on the Australian Today Show was that Roy was still partially paralyzed and couldn’t walk, so this is definitely an improvement on that report.

Restless after four years of retirement, illusionists Siegfried and Roy are hinting they still have something up their sleeves.

Asked about their rumored return to show business, Roy coyly responded: “A good magician never lets the cat out of the bag. Act surprised when you hear about it.”

Added Siegfried: “It’s all in the experimental stage, conceptual,” he said Friday in a rare interview.

Las Vegas Review Journal

Seigfried and Roy were placed nine of the list of America’s highest paid celebrities, and it was suggested that their act was worth $45 million in ticket sales to the Mirage, plus money spent by guests seeing the show within the hotel. Siegfried and Roy were contracted to the Mirage for life, or until tiger mauling.

But at the end of November the tiger habitat in the hotel was closed, and was being turned into a restaurant called BLT Burger.

The incident that broke up the act was when Roy tripped, and a tiger named Montecore picked up Roy in the same fashion it would a cub, except that Roy doesn’t have thick, loose fur and his neck and instead almost bled to death. Seems the tiger might be smart enough to do tricks but not smart enough to tell the difference between humans and cubs. This is probably a result of the breeding program Siegfried and Roy implemented to ensure an unlimited supply of white tigers, if not smart white tigers.

If you’re fainthearted, then don’t read this – heres’ the details of Roy’s surgery:

Horn was listed in critical condition for several weeks thereafter, and was said to have suffered a stroke and partial paralysis. Doctors removed one-quarter of his skull to relieve the pressure of his swelling brain during an operation known as a decompressive craniectomy. The portion of skull was placed in a pouch in Horn’s abdomen in the hope of replacing it later.

Wikipedia

That is amazing, storing your body parts for later use in your own body. Well, I’m impressed.

Note by Celebitchy: Congratulations to Roy on his amazing recovery. It doesn’t seem like he should be that keen to work on the stage with dangerous cats again, and maybe he should reconsider. I remember reading that he suffered from a stroke on stage from high blood pressure before the attack and that he believed that the tiger was trying to save him. He had worked onstage with animals multiple times a week for 35 years without a scratch before the incident.

Siegfried and Roy are shown at Elizabeth Taylor’s 75th birthday party on 2/27/07. Thanks to WENN for this photo.