tonight on "nightline," fatal attraction. thousands of dangerous exotic animals turning america's backyards into mini jungles. the latest attack. a lion mauls and kills a young woman in california. framed? how a little mistake could land you on these mug shot websites, making you famous for all the wrong reasons. and the small fortune it might cost you to reclaim your dignity. and skinny snooki. she's saying goodbye to 4 pounds -- 42 pounds of baby weight and hello to a future spanning far beyond the "jersey shore."

from new york city, this is "nightline" with terry moran. >> hello, everyone. i'm terry moran. glad you're with us. we begin tonight with the latest horrifying incident in a wave of shocking animal attacks in the u.s. a 24-year-old intern was mauled to death yesterday by a lion at a private california zoo. dianna hanson's tragic story opens a window to a wide and dangerous world of private pet sanctuaries maintained by animal lovers who are tempting fate every single day. >> reporter: it happens just after noon in this private zoo sanctuary near fresno, california. >> the person is still in the enclosure with the lion. >> reporter: when this 550-pound male lion attacked 24-year-old

intern dianna hanson. according to the fresno county coroner, hanson had stepped into the enclosure when the african lion escaped its smaller feeding cage. >> this is a situation where you had -- somebody was too close to a lion. >> reporter: less than 30 minutes later, sheriff's deputies arrived and began firing weapons. >> the lion has been taken care of. >> reporter: the facility is open to wildcats, including tigers, lions, leopards and jaguars. officials say the park had a good history and also had an active permit to operate. >> i always felt that someday something like this could happen. >> reporter: dianna hanson's father tells abc news he is heartbroken and searching for answers. >> i couldn't believe that she was in a lion's cage when a lion was there. i still don't know how that could happen. that's what i'm hoping to find out. >> reporter: sanctuary guidelines are that care givers should never be inside with the cats. tonight, the fresno county

sheriff's department is investigating. >> we're cooperating fully with the sheriff's department in the investigation and hope we can determine exactly what happened. >> reporter: earlier today, the sanctuary owner spoke about the tragedy. >> again, our whole staff is -- it's devastating. >> reporter: the coroner's report found dianna died from a broken neck. she died almost instantly, and only then the lion inflicted additional wounds after her death. this incident is just the latest in a nationwide rash of attacks and scares by exotic animals. >> there's a lion on mount perry road. >> i just saw a wolf. >> looked like a jaguar or a wolf or something. >> reporter: in ohio, more than 50 dangerous animals unleashed by their owner, scampering out into the roadways. odessa, texas, the same month, a 4-year-old boy mauled by this 150-pound cougar kept as a pet. >> this has been going on for years and years. there's a long and growing casualty list of people who have

been injured or killed by dangerous wild animals kept as pets. >> reporter: out of all of this animal mayhem across the nation, someone has gotten very busy. >> good to see you, thank you. >> reporter: where you sense fear, mitch sees risk and potential lawsuits. >> they're exotic animals. she can be nice one minute and turn around the next minute and be as exotic as she is. >> reporter: where you see lions, tigers, he spies potentially loose fencing. >> they're all welded. >> okay, good. >> reporter: he is the wild animal insurance guy. selling insurance policies, pretty much anyone with generally uninsurable exotic pets. >> i've got circuses, private facilities, some people that just want to have exotic animals because they have an interest in it. >> reporter: and a lot of people

have interest. so much so that according to the world wildlife fund, there are more tigers in the u.s. living in captivity than in the wild across the world. he is the first to admit that these animals don't necessarily make good pets. >> you think they're nice and cute and cuddly. and all of a sudden they're grown and never shown a propensity for being dangerous and they can turn within seconds. >> reporter: and with incidents like these, that becomes a problem. should people be worried? there are quite a few animals that are in facilities that should not be there. >> a cougar next door is something that people should know about. absolutely. >> reporter: it has been good for his business, up 50% this year. these policies are not cheap. on a standard $3 million policy -- >> probably $15,000, $16,000 a year. >> reporter: that's serious money. >> it is, and that's what these people have to commit to. >> reporter: surprisingly, only a dozen states require overers of exotic states to carry

liability insurance. in california where the latest attack happened, it's only required for circuses and shows, not for private sanctuaries in someone's backyard. but even at the places he does insure, he finds problems. >> if this guy decides to -- >> this cage is gone, and it happens at 2:00 in the morning, you don't know it until 8:00 when you're in the field. >> reporter: do you find that people realize they're way in over their head the. >> a lot of people do, they want the baby, and i just don't think they take enough safeguards. >> reporter: the lion who killed yesterday was just a baby cub when it made an appearance on ellen. he owns 27 lions and tigers on his florida ranch. seet see them pacing back and forth like this all night long. what's the range of cost? >> $5,000.

>> reporter: cash is often the most significant barrier to safety. most owners of these sanctuaries are so called animal broke, he says, buying the animals when they're young, cute, and small, but before you know it, they're big, expensive, and can be deadly. >> that means he's feeling very comfortable. >> reporter: but quickly, we found that these animals may be trained, but they are not tame. f >> get out of there, matt. thanks to him for that report. next up, do a quick google search right now. look for your name. you may discover shocking results that could threaten your reputation and cost you hundreds to repair. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant

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standard at citibank. busted by the cops, outed online, and forced to pay to reclaim your anonymity. that is your worst nightmare come true. how mugshot websites are now making big bucks exposing those nabbed for even the smallest offenses. we go inside a booming online industry that's surprisingly legal and potentially destructive. >> reporter: there's something about seeing someone in a mugshot in what could be their most unfortunate photo ever that gets tons of people watching on the internet, and it's not just the jailhouse photos of celebrities like lindsay lohan

and this famous one from pretty. a new industry has been born with more than 60 new websites like whosarrested.com. >> we all know it's wrong. fundamentally we know it's wrong. but in a country that just gives people the access to information and in an age where information is available so quickly, how will you stop this? >> reporter: here's how it works. the sites legally download the latest mugshots from police websites, publish the faces of alleged lawbreakers on the internet and often charge the accused a fee, sometimes hundreds of dollars to pull the photos down. we've been tracking these cases for months. andy mcmahon, a computer technician in atlanta, says he paid $75 to take down an old booking photo from a dui. he says he hasn't had a drink in five years and now has a daughter and a child on the way. >> it wasn't a lot, but it wasn't a little. and after they took it down, they just started popping up everywhere. it was kind of like

whack-a-mole. you hit one down and it pops every other places. >> reporter: sofia told us she's innocent and she's been fighting this for more than a year. >> it's like you can't move on with your life. everybody goes to google now to see who you are. i'm not a criminal. i'm not charged with anything. >> reporter: she says she feels like she's been violated twice. first by the husband who in divorce papers she claims repeatedly attacked her. >> there you are. >> reporter: then by the mugshot industry, which legally published the booking photos from what she says was a false arrest after police were called to her home, later cleared from her record. >> just to have that online, it's a constant reminder of my nightmare. >> reporter: when she asked just one of these sites to keep her photo private, they said yes but she'd have to pay $399 and she refused. she says while she was negotiating with one site, the picture kept showing up on others. >> you know, all they want is money to take the pictures down. it's not just that i take my photograph down on this site. it comes down on this site and

pops up somewhere else, over and over and over again. so when does it stop? >> reporter: we went looking for a voice from the mugshot industry, but it often led nowhere, making the owners difficult to track down. so you're just a businessman in this scenario. >> a businessman and an advocate. >> reporter: we did find this man in louisiana who asked to remain in shadow. >> think of how many people have been arrested. now put a small service fee on that amount of people and you can see why the industry is taking off. >> reporter: he told us to call him t.j. and says he's just a middle man hired by thousands of americans each year desperate to get their booking photos taken down. on his website called removeslander.com, he charges up to $1,300 for his services and he swears he's not in bed with the owners of these sites. is this a dirty business that you're in? >> i don't consider it dirty

what i do. what i do is help people. >> reporter: in an e-mail, we heard back from the owners of bustedmugshots.com, a popular site now facing a lawsuit for more than 250,000 people in ohio, accusing the company of exploiting their photos for commercial gain. the company's ceo told us he's providing a public service, saying that the public's right to know about local arrests and crime outweighs this concern, and that laws have determined these records must be disclosed to the public, and he told us when the person is exonerated or found not guilty, the record is removed at no charge. sofia says that was not her experience dealing with other companies. she says she explained over and over again how she was the victim and how the photos were preventing her from obtaining employment and she provided these court documents showing that prosecutors cleared her case. >> this was a wrongful arrest and the case was dismissed by the state attorney's office. >> reporter: but her picture remains published to this day. our inside expert says the real

problem is the law, saying the industry would go away if authorities stopped treating booking photos like trophies. >> the police can stop this overnight. and this is the part that no one is talking about. why are we posting the mugshot of someone who simply missed traffic court? why is there a need, mr. sheriff, to post their photos? >> reporter: georgia lawmaker roger bruce is one man trying to shut down the mugshot industry, pushing for a law that would make it a crime to establish a booking photo and then charge a fee to take it down, but only in georgia. >> we're trying to remove the incentive for putting it out there. we don't want them to be able to charge a fee to remove these pictures. and the thought is if they -- if they can't charge a fee, why put it out there? >> reporter: he says sheriff's departments across the country should be able to label their images with water marks and police their use and says that victims should be able to sue when police say the photos have been mishandled.

>> it just destroys your life. you know, my family, my friends. it's just -- i just don't know how to express in words how devastated this has been for me. you are defending yourself as long as the picture is out there, you are defending yourself. telling your story, this is what happened, i'm not guilty. >> reporter: she's now found temporary work and stepped away from the fight, deciding that she'll live with the pictures and explain her story one person at a time. next up, we know her as an mtv wild child. find out what's ahead for this "jersey shore" star, including why she's slimming down and straightening up. "vince mahe grew up on two continents... and noticed that wherever you go, people have their hands full, but their feet free." "the result? a liftgate you operate with your foot."

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well, life in the all night party fast lane may be over for

a "jersey shore" star, snooki. but that doesn't mean she's slowing down, juggling motherhood and a red hot career, this reality tv queen sits down with abc's chris connelly to discuss her long road to fame and how she plans to stay on top. >> reporter: look who's ready to get back on the beach. that's "jersey shore" star snooki, in an "us weekly" cover shoot, having dropped 42 pounds just six months after giving birth to her first child, lorenzo. when i sat down with her late last year, she had already come up with a key weight loss tip. >> it's called breast-feeding. and braeast pump. when you pump your bobs, you're burning calories. >> reporter: nicole says motherhood has been transforming. >> when you have a kid, everything changes. >> reporter: what time are you going to sleep? >> i usually go to sleep around eight o'clock. i'm like a grandma. i want him to have a normal life

as possible. >> reporter: for snooki, now 25, that would be a new normal. coming after six seasons on "jersey shore "jersey shore." now as she awaits a possible third season of the spin-off, she and her fiance are living in his parents' basement. not that far, it turns out, from where this pint sized powerhouse grew up. >> this is frank's deli and my friend's dad owns it. i went there all the time. and then you have pizza town over there. it's where we all hung out, great pizza. that's basically it. >> reporter: here, 80 miles north of new york city where she was even a high school cheerleader. do you remember any of the cheers? >> oh yeah.

>> reporter: go ahead. >> go, dukes, go. >> reporter: yet it wasn't all sunshine from nicole, who was adopted from chile and brought to america from her parents. >> everyone making fun of me, you're too orange, fat, ugly. then they started calling me stinking inking. what does that even mean? they were really mean. >> reporter: now she's turning herself into a brand. selling products. >> this is my red nail polish. >> reporter: under the snooki banner. >> i started wearing these slippers in miami and the company approached me and asked if they want me to do my own line. i said of course. so i started with the animal prints and then the neons. >> reporter: sunglasses, perfume. >> this smells like cotton candy. >> reporter: bronzer, even headphones have followed suit. >> the blinged out animal print. >> reporter: they're not yet available in major stores but they sure are snooki. >> all my products, i definitely

want it to be like me. so when you look at it, it has to be tacky and gaudy, but still look kind of classy at the same time. >> reporter: back then, through her "jersey shore" years and now, she's had the support of her proud and presumably relieved parents. andy and helen. their business ventures have become a mom and pop operation, literally. >> if anybody has got her best interest, it's going to be her parents. to guide her along and reach her goals wherever she would want, putting money away for her and our grandson. >> basically, my dad handles my money, because if i did, i'd be lost. hopefully before i'm 40 years old, i can say i have a huge empire so i can put my kids through college and i can be a hot grandma someday. >> reporter: i'm chris connelly for "nightline." >> snooki, the hot grandma. we have so much to look forward to. now it's time for tonight's closing argument.

after 13 hours of filibustering, senator rand paul got the answer he was looking for from attorney general eric holer, that the president cannot use a drone to kill an american not engaged in combat on american soil. so what do you think? was rand paul right? should the obama administration give the american people an explanation of how, when, why, and by what authority the president can or can't order the killing of american citizens even on american soil? weigh in on the "nightline" facebook page, tweet us @nightline. check in for "good morning america." they're working while you're