Eastern Ohio is shut down right now because exotic wild animals — bears, tigers, lions, cheetahs, wolves and other wildlife — are running amok. Police have been hunting down these animals throughout the night and have killed about 30 out of the 48 animals on the loose.
It’s such a weird situation. The wild animals were originally from an animal preserve owned by Terry Thompson. Thompson, an eccentric character who lived with chimps and orangutans in his home, died last night (no one knows why) and his farm’s fences and animal cages were left open, letting the wild animals go crazy. Police have been using assault rifles with the aid of night vision goggles to take these animals down while urging residents of eastern Ohio to stay indoors and update Twitter to protect themselves. Seriously. The whole thing is so unbelievable, even signs on the highway are flashing, “CAUTION EXOTIC ANIMALS”.
As animals are still on the loose, police have shut down schools in the area and have told people to stay inside their vehicles. I wonder how safe I’d feel if I had to face a “mature, very big, aggressive” wild animal and the only weapon I had was Twitter. [USA Today]
Image: Zdenek Krchak/Shutterstock