Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office officials in Ohio shot and killed a zebra Sunday after it bit the arm of its 72-year-old owner, according to a report the office shared with Audacy.
Upon arriving at the Circleville, Ohio, scene at around 5:30 p.m., authorities “noticed Ronald [Clifton] had his right arm covered with his sleeve and according to the dispatch logs, Ronald’s arm was bit off by the Zebra.”
Deputy Michael Oberley was eventually able to apply a tourniquet to Clifton and him into an ambulance to Grant Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. However, when the officer first drove on to the property and attempted to position his cruiser between the victim and several zebras, a large male zebra charged at the driver side door of the vehicle.
“I was able to use my air horn and sirens to scare the zebra enough so I could exit my vehicle,” Oberley said. “I made contact with Ronald and he appeared to have a hemorrhage on his right arm just below the elbow.”
Sgt. Stacey T. Eitel said there were around five or six female zebras that the male appeared to be protective of. Rueben Pahl, 30, was also listed as a witness to the incident who told deputies that the animal was violent.
As law enforcement was collecting information about the incident at the scene, Oberley “observed the male zebra coming in closer to the Clifton family and Emergency Medical Staff (EMS)” and he “was notified while collecting information by the family if the male zebra came any closer that we were authorized by the family to dispatch it.”
Although Eitel yelled at the zebra several times and attempts were made to scare it off, it continued coming closer to people at the scene.
“The Zebra than continued to walk closer to Sgt. Eitel and Sgt. Eitel than lowered his shotgun to the high ready position and shot a slug round at the Zebra’s head killing the Zebra,” said a report from Deputy Nathan Welch. Oberly said he turned his head and saw the zebra on the ground.
“There were a large amount of other people behind me that I needed to protect from this aggressive Zebra,” Eitel said. “This unit knew that this unit wasn’t going to allow this animal to get close enough to bite me for just hearing that it had just bitten someone’s arm off.”
He said that the zebra died instantly upon being shot and that Sheriff Matthew Hafey arrived just as the shot was fired.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, “zebras are not considered exotic animals,” under an Ohio law passed in 2012 after a man released 50 exotic animals and then died of suicide. Ohio’s law requires exotic animals be registered with the state’s Department of Agriculture.
Zebras cannot be domesticated, said an article provided by the Library of Congress.
“They are unpredictable and are known to attack people. To be domesticated, animals must meet certain criteria,” the article explained. “For example, they must have a good disposition and should not panic under pressure.
Zebras’ unpredictable nature and tendency to attack preclude them from being good candidates for domestication.”
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