Mantecore, the tiger that injured Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, dies at 17

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FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, file photo, the German-American entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher, left, and Roy Uwe Ludwig Horn pose during a photo call, when they visited the evening show "Fantissima" in the leisure park Phantasialand in Bruehl, Germany. Mantecore, the tiger that injured Roy Horn over a decade ago, has died. He was 17. A statement released by illusionist duo Siegfried & Roy on Tuesday, March 25, 2014, said the tiger died from an illness on March 19. No other details were provided. (AP Photo/Hermann J. Knippertz, File)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Mantecore, the tiger that injured Roy Horn over a decade ago, has died. He was 17.

A statement released by illusionist duo Siegfried & Roy on Tuesday said the tiger died from an illness on March 19. No other details were provided and it was unclear where the tiger was when it died.

Horn was injured by the 380-pound tiger named Mantecore during a live performance at The Mirage hotel-casino in Las Vegas in 2003.

Horn said in a statement that he “will forever believe it was his concern for my safety and well-being that caused him to act as he did on that night long ago.”

Horn and partner Siegfried Fischbacher have said they believe that Mantecore sensed Horn was having a mini-stroke and was dragging him to safety, rather than attacking him. Animal experts have disputed that theory.

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