( dpa ) - Animal trainer Roy Horn plans a comeback to the stage with his partner and illusionist Siegfried Fischbacher four and a half years after Horn was attacked by one of their tigers while performing.
Horn, 63, plans to appear one night in February 2009 in Las Vegas for a benefit show with Fischbacher, 68, their spokesman Dave Kirvin said Tuesday.
The duo plan a series of illusions, Kirvin said, adding, "It would really surprise me if animals weren't part of their performance."
The pair of Germany-born entertainers and their magic show, which features big cats, were a fixture in the United States' gambling capital of Las Vegas, and they had performed for more than a decade at the Mirage casino there when Horn was bitten in the neck during a show by one of their white tigers in October 2003. He survived despite suffering substantial blood loss and a stroke.
The performance at the benefit for the Keep Memory Alive foundation - which funds research, education and support services for brain illnesses - would be the duo's first performance since the attack.
Horn defended the tiger that attacked him and refused to have the big cat killed. He said the tiger had come to his aid and was trying to carry him off the stage when he lost consciousness during the performance.