Lions, Tigers and Bears.

HuntersGATHERING · October 2011

[removed by staff] The town is called Zanesville, and a man let dozens of exotic wild animals loose. And when I mean exotic I am talking about 17 Lions, 6 Black Bears, 18 Bengal Tigers, 3 Leopards, 3 Cougars, 3 Grizzly Bears, 2 Wolves, and 4 Monkeys. Now out of all those animals 49 of them where killed, and 6 where taken to the Columbus Zoo. The Leopards, 1 Grizzly Bear and 2 monkeys where the survivor. Though there is one monkey still at large. Now the main argument about the animals unfortunate ends is Ohio laws about importing and owning exotic animals, and tranquilizing the animals instead of shooting them. The police says they didn't have enough equipment and they don't carry around tranquilizers. But others say there are surrounding zoo's and veterinarians that could have helped out in this situation. People are more upset about the Bengal Tigers being killed since they are an endangered species. I am angry and upset about this because there are multiple faults in this situation. One why would the man set loose all those animals for no apparent reason. Two, there should have been more of a game plan than just shooting them. Yes I know humans stand no chance against bears or big cats. But that is where people brain storm, and gather ideas. I would rather them shoot the animals in the legs to prevent future moving and escaping, bring them to the zoo to get treated and so on. But I understand public safety in this situation, but there could have been many choices made instead of just gunning them down and killing them. Here is a image of the animals that have been shot and killed [Edited by staff, inappropriate for children.] It's just sad, if you want to own an exotic animal represent one from the zoo or other websites. Yes everything is adorable and cute as a baby. And we see professional people hand raise them and some people think they can do that to. Ugh, it makes me angry and sad at the same time. I am upset about the Lions and tigers, since I am a Leo and I feel the lion is one of the most beautiful animals out there, I just feel connected to them. And the tigers could have been useful in a zoo's breeding program to further the bloodlines and get tigers numbers back up. But what can you do -Sigh-.

Mileysmybaby · October 2011

I agree, they never should have been in the hands of that guy. I heard about that. Apparently the guy killed himself after he let them all loose.

It is horrible!

Thats exactly what I thought when I heard they were killed...WHY?! The cops didn't know what to do in the situation!

This is saddening and annoying.

Troglin · October 2011

It's simply the matter of public welfare. Human lives are considered top priority, even if the species in question is endangered. You cannot have that many wild animals on the loose, as those were healthy animals well capable of moving large distances away. I heard that a tranquilizer was used in at least one case, but the animal reacted aggressively towards it and they had to kill it. If I was a police officer and I had just come upon a massive, agitated cat, I would likely shoot to kill as well. Authorities had to deploy quickly. Zoos and veterinarians are in for business, and as they're just civilians, it'd be a danger and a liability to have them involved in that. If you've ever shot a gun, you'll know that while you can aim fairly easy at a fixed target, you can't easily aim for the leg of a moving, large, agitated animal. You'll need a sharpshooter (or an experienced big game hunter) or else there's a chance it wouldn't even hit the target. Then you've got an injured, large, aggressive animal who is in pain, and who will stop at nothing to get away. If they had been shot in the legs to immobilize them, they'd be stuck there suffering until a tranquilizer dart could be retrieved and used effectively. If you managed to immobilize it, chances are some bones would be broken, which would in turn cause a long term pain for the animal in question. I would personally rather let them die with a one shot kill than to shoot them and cause them to suffer for months. Just a note, I felt the same way when I first heard about it. I was angry at the cops for not using tranqs, angry at the owner for letting them out, angry at the state/county/whatever for allowing him to own them, and angry that valuable animals had to lose their lives. I was just able to look at it from a more logical, realistic (and unfortunate) standpoint after I let the emotions drain. I wish they hadn't had to kill any of the animals, but unfortunately there wasn't much choice. When you take public safety, travel time, animal travel time, number of the animals, and capability of the animals, you don't have time to stand around and try to save their lives. It's not like police officers are faced daily with tigers or lions. There's no training that they'll ever go through to prepare them for that type of situation, except to neutralize the threat to yourself or the public. While the animals were endangered, nobody should blame law enforcement for the death of the animals. They were doing just as anyone else (in the right mind) would have done when faced with such a large threat. The only one at fault for the death of these animals is their owner. Judging by the owners actions after he set his animals free, I would safely assume that he released them so they could survive. He wasn't going to be able to provide them with the care they needed after he carried out his actions, and by releasing them, it at least gave them a shot at life. Most likely he had some form of mental defect.

Garnet · October 2011

wow me and my mom JUST got done talking about this... its so sad... they killed 18 tigers =( The man shot himself after he released them.. I agree with Ana, he most likely released them so they would have a chance of surviving. Who knows how long they would have been caged and starved while he lay there dead before someone found him? He was thinking of their lives when he set them free (is what im guessing)

Mileysmybaby · October 2011

Anastasia wrote:

It's simply the matter of public welfare. Human lives are considered top priority, even if the species in question is endangered. You cannot have that many wild animals on the loose, as those were healthy animals well capable of moving large distances away. I heard that a tranquilizer was used in at least one case, but the animal reacted aggressively towards it and they had to kill it. If I was a police officer and I had just come upon a massive, agitated cat, I would likely shoot to kill as well. Authorities had to deploy quickly. Zoos and veterinarians are in for business, and as they're just civilians, it'd be a danger and a liability to have them involved in that. If you've ever shot a gun, you'll know that while you can aim fairly easy at a fixed target, you can't easily aim for the leg of a moving, large, agitated animal. You'll need a sharpshooter (or an experienced big game hunter) or else there's a chance it wouldn't even hit the target. Then you've got an injured, large, aggressive animal who is in pain, and who will stop at nothing to get away. If they had been shot in the legs to immobilize them, they'd be stuck there suffering until a tranquilizer dart could be retrieved and used effectively. If you managed to immobilize it, chances are some bones would be broken, which would in turn cause a long term pain for the animal in question. I would personally rather let them die with a one shot kill than to shoot them and cause them to suffer for months. Just a note, I felt the same way when I first heard about it. I was angry at the cops for not using tranqs, angry at the owner for letting them out, angry at the state/county/whatever for allowing him to own them, and angry that valuable animals had to lose their lives. I was just able to look at it from a more logical, realistic (and unfortunate) standpoint after I let the emotions drain. I wish they hadn't had to kill any of the animals, but unfortunately there wasn't much choice. When you take public safety, travel time, animal travel time, number of the animals, and capability of the animals, you don't have time to stand around and try to save their lives. It's not like police officers are faced daily with tigers or lions. There's no training that they'll ever go through to prepare them for that type of situation, except to neutralize the threat to yourself or the public. While the animals were endangered, nobody should blame law enforcement for the death of the animals. They were doing just as anyone else (in the right mind) would have done when faced with such a large threat. The only one at fault for the death of these animals is their owner. Judging by the owners actions after he set his animals free, I would safely assume that he released them so they could survive. He wasn't going to be able to provide them with the care they needed after he carried out his actions, and by releasing them, it at least gave them a shot at life. Most likely he had some form of mental defect.

I agree mostly, but I still wish they hadn't killed them. And the owner of them I guess was quote on quote "going crazy" from what I heard but that could just be what my source is saying because they think he was weird to have all those animals.

PrincessMaddy · October 2011

I heard the reason why let the animals loose was because he was he was mad at police and his neighbors, and his wife had left him. I also heard that he was arrested a while ago for animal abuse and his animals weren't living in clean conditions. Don't know if it is true but that was what I heard.

Mileysmybaby · October 2011

Heres a link to a video about the wife wanting the remaining animals back; <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/zanesville-animal-preserve-owners-wife-surviving-animals-back/story?id=14785969"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Click</a> Reason of suicide;

Thompson owed almost $70,000 in unpaid taxes to the IRS and the county. The wild animal enthusiast had two federal tax liens filed against him last year, according to the Associated Press, and other well-documented woes, including prison time, animal abuse charges and marital problems, offering new insight into what could have driven Thompson to commit suicide and send his beloved animals out to their deaths.

After he shot himself (this may seem disgusting);

According to police, just seconds after Thompson set his beloved animals free and shot himself with a handgun, an animal bit him in the head, and likely dragged him along the driveway where he was eventually found. The bite wound on Terry Thompson's head was "consistent with the bite from a larger type cat," Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said. Thompson's body was found near a pile of chicken parts. Lutz said Thompson often used chicken to feed the animals, but it's unclear whether he had intended to draw the animals to his body.

Animals killed;

The animals that were killed between Tuesday and Wednesday included 18 Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, a pair of grizzlies, three mountain lions, two wolves and a baboon.

Survivors;

Three leopards, a grizzly bear and two Macaques were the only animals that survived, and they are at the Columbus Zoo, receiving around the clock care. According to zoo officials, the animals are "stressed," but eating, drinking, and playing with ball toys.

Maxxy · October 2011

This really saddens me. He could have worked at paying back his debt by maybe selling the animals to the zoo, or another exotic animal handler who could really care after them. I disagree with one of the comments above. Yeah, people shouldn't adopt a baby tiger because it's cute and cuddly, but he wasn't going around doing that.. He got most of his animals from people who make the dumb decision of getting one just for its cute looks, and he just went and took the animals off their hands. Also, as long as you can provide them with a lot of land and a habitat similar to their natural one, I don't see anything wrong with owning an exotic pet.

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Lions, Tigers and Bears.

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