An escaped zebra set a Florida neighborhood abuzz after it ran through a yard, attacked a pickup truck, then galloped off while being chased by police helicopters.
According to WFTS, the fugitive zebra was first sighted running through a backyard in Wimauma, FL. Mark Ross saw the animal traipsing through his yard and couldn’t believe his eyes. At first he thought it was a horse, then he saw the stripes. Ross took video for a bit, then went out to try to corral it.
“Once I realized that this horse has lots of stripes, I first had to check myself make sure I wasn’t hallucinating or something like this, and I’m like, ‘There is a zebra in my backyard,'” Ross told WFTS. “He went right past me, I jumped out of the way and he started doing circles around the neighborhood.”
As the zebra ran around, neighbors tried to block it in with their cars, but it escaped and trotted along a nearby busy road. A passing F-150 spooked the zebra and it charged, smashing the driver’s side mirror and showering the driver with broken glass. After that, the animal careened into a dusty field where it tried to make its escape.
By this point, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department had dispatched a helicopter and a pack of deputies, who eventually ran the zebra to ground and returned it to its owner.
Neither Jennifer Caudill, the woman who owns the zebra, nor any of the employees working on her walled, gated compound in nearby Balm, said how the zebra escaped. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officials are investigating whether any charges will be filed.
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