Things are getting wild in Zanesville, Ohio…
Over 4 dozen wild animals have escaped from a preserve and have been running rampant throughout the city, forcing people to stay indoors and schools to cancel classes. Official word has not come as to what animals escaped but the preserve housed lions, tigers, bears, cheetahs, wolves, giraffes, camels and bears.
The police have been forced to put the animals down upon finding their whereabouts. So far about 30-35 different animals have been shot and killed. Citizens have reported multiple sightings of exotic animals along the highways and in their neighborhoods. Police went to the preserve and found some of the animals standing by their cages. Unfortunately, the animals were shot and killed on sight. People from the Columbus Zoo have converged on the area to lend a hand, hoping to use tranquilizers instead of bullets.
Sheriff Matt Lutz has activated members of the SWAT team to help with the round up. Team members will be equipped with night vision goggles to help pursue the animals around the clock.
“We want our citizens to take any and all precautions … Our number one priority right now is nobody gets hurt out of this ordeal. This is a bad situation. It’s been a bad situation for a long time and the last thing we want to do is have any of our public hurt. These are wild animals that you would see on TV in Africa,” he said.
Perhaps the biggest twist of the entire ordeal is that the owner of the preserve, Terry Thompson, was found dead at the preserve. Preliminary indications are pointing towards a suicide. Neighbors claim that Thompson was in legal trouble and recently released from jail. It is unclear if he intentionally left all of the cage doors open before he took his own life, but one would have to assume that was his plan.
The above picture is a shot of a lion that was shot and killed on Tuesday on Thompson’s farm.
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