Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!

You might have heard the story about the Zanesville, Ohio, man who set 56 wild animals free from his property and then killed himself.  Terry Thompson was some piece of work.  He was an ex-con who made his living fixing motorcycles, selling horse trailers, and chartering flights.  He had a compulsion for collecting exotic pets, including Bengal tigers, African lions, bears, and apes.

Last week Thompson was apparently despondent over how hard it was to keep 56 dangerous wild animals decided to shoot himself.  First he set the animals free into the Ohio countryside.  

The sheriff's department panicked and shot 48 of the 56 animals to death.  The survivors were transferred to the Columbus Zoo.

I'm disgusted with creeps like Thompson and with the state of Ohio.  I've developed some sympathy for the bloody reaction of law enforcement.

The only places where animals such as big cats, bears, wolves, primates, and great snakes should be kept captive are zoos and wildlife refuges where they will be supervised by competent handlers, rangers, and veterinarians.  

The state of Ohio is one of several American states with no laws regulating the keeping of exotic animals.  When the authorities visited Thompson's place, all they could do was counsel him on safer captivity.  They did not find evidence of abuse or mishandling serious enough to warrant seizing Thompson's animals.  Thompson did serve time in prison on unrelated charges, and he did have documented evidence of animal cruelty in his record.  However, the police still let him keep the animals.  

As we saw with Travis the Chimpanzee in Connecticut a few years ago, when something goes wrong with a big wild animal, human life is in danger.

I initially thought the environmental police should have have tranquilized the animals instead of killing them, but the sheriff's department argued it was obliged to protect the public at all costs to the animals.  If they used tranquilizer darts, the animals might wander off and regain consciousness before the deputies could capture them.  A disoriented lion or baboon is a dangerous animal.  They did shoot one tiger with a tranquilizer dart, which only drove him more berserk.  The amount of juice it takes to bring down a juvenile bear is not the same as for a full grown tiger.  Thompson's reckless actions gave authorities no time for strategy, only for the most drastic action, killing them all.

Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) now says Ohio will look into stricter regulations of exotic animal keeping.  

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Some of the carnage in Zanesville:

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Closing the barn door after the animals escape

It is so sad.  We drive through Zanesville from time to time and I remember a billboard a billboard a few years ago, advertising his wilf animal park.  It sickens me that they were killed, but Ohio isn't exactly the capital of exotic animal capture.  ESPECIALLY in a smallish town (population 25,586 at the 2000 census).  You would think that the county would've had some sort of plan for at least one escaped animal, since there were SO many in that small area. 

Those animals deceased as of 8:00 PM on October 19 include one wolf, six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, a baboon, three mountain lions, and all 18 tigers, authorities said. They were buried at the location they were killed. Tranquilizers were used unsuccessfully on some animals.

One of the cops put this in a practical light... It's not like the cops are running around with tranquilizer loads in their squad cars.

If I were them, out in the dark and I knew there were lions, grizzly bears, and tigers out therem I'd be shooting at anything that moved.  :-X

I wonder who gets to keep the animal hides? ???

Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!

Nobody got to keep the hides, they were buried in the ground, along with the rest of the animal

Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!

Nobody got to keep the hides, they were buried in the ground, along with the rest of the animal


Wow, what a waste.  You mean they did not even harvest the meat?

Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!

Nobody got to keep the hides, they were buried in the ground, along with the rest of the animal
So, how many tigers are there left in the world now, knowing that tigers are an endangered species?

So, how many tigers are there left in the world now, knowing that tigers are an endangered species?


a few, I haven't finished counting them all yet.  They are really fast movers.  :D

One of the cops put this in a practical light... It's not like the cops are running around with tranquilizer loads in their squad cars.

If I were them, out in the dark and I knew there were lions, grizzly bears, and tigers out therem I'd be shooting at anything that moved.   :-X



An objective observation:  Cops: 58, Animals: 0.

Cops are way more dangerous than animals!
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a few, I haven't finished counting them all yet.  They are really fast movers.  :D


...and when they run ...all those stripes make them hard to focus on.  I'm just sayin'... ;)

Apparently a bobcat and a 12-point buck were spotted about a half hour from my parents house.  I would assume they are from this fiasco, but who knows

I felt upset that ALL those animals HAD to die.... :-[

I support Human Rights, but I'd rather take-down an animal with 20 Tranquilizers than 20 Bullets.

Luckily they never came to my neck-of-the-woods.