Roy Horn walking
two years after tiger attack

Roy Horn says "the magic is back.'' But two years after he was nearly killed by a tiger on stage, the magic is about walking short distances, not making elephants disappear. "I meditate a lot, but I am constantly in pain,'' Horn, of the famed duo Siegfried & Roy, told the Las Vegas Sun. "I'm trying to live with this.''

Monday is the second anniversary of the attack; it's also his 61st birthday. Horn can now walk unaided for short distances, and the grip of his right hand is noticeably firm. But signs of the attack remain: A thin white scar cuts across the right side of his neck, his left side is partially paralyzed, and his walk is a slow shuffle.

His goal is to walk without assistance. "It will be soon,'' he said. "I will surprise everybody when I do it. I like surprises.''

Horn said he still finds solace in his animals and visits them at least once a week--including Montecore, the white tiger that mauled him during a performance at the Mirage. Recalling the night he nearly died, Horn said it was not his time. "They were not ready for me,'' he said. "They were not ready for me to do the show upstairs. Not yet.'' (AP)