An Ohio man was brutally injured after being attacked by a wild animal Sunday.
He wasn’t mauled by a grizzly bear or a mountain lion. Rather, the man’s arm was nearly bitten off by an African zebra.
The owner of the zebra was found severely injured when deputies of the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office arrived on his property in Circleville around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, according to WCMH-TV in Columbus.
Police dispatch logs indicated the injuries had been caused by the male zebra, which was “aggressive due to being protective of about five or six female zebras that were in the field.”
Sheriff’s deputies ultimately resorted to shooting the animal after it repeatedly charged them, according to the report.
In a bodycam video from WCMH, deputies can be seen lowering shotguns toward the zebra in footage that ends just before the fatal shots.
The victim of the zebra attack was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center for treatment, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
“Initial reports indicated that the man had lost his arm, however, additional information was provided Monday that said the man’s arm was able to be reattached,” the outlet said.
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One wildlife animal described the zebra’s aggressive behavior as motivated by its territorial instincts.
“They’re definitely wild animals and still have, like, kind of all those wild instincts and behaviors,” Dan Beetem, director of animal management at the Columbus safari park The Wilds, told WCMH.
“Male zebras are territorial,” he said. “Their job is to get and hold a group of females that he wants to breed, and he’ll be very protective of those against any kind of challenger.”
Pickaway County Sheriff Matthew Hafey supported the deputies who put down the animal, citing reports that it had behaved aggressively in the past.
“The zebra had already shown aggression,” Hafey said. “And speaking with some of the family members and friends, apparently, this zebra has been aggressive in the past.”
“I told [the deputy] I fully support what he did. He did what was best to protect the people on the scene there.”
“And I talked to some people on the scene there, and they said that they would have ended up doing the same thing if the deputy had not done that.”
The zebra’s natural range is in central and southern Africa, according to the African Wildlife Foundation — not central Ohio.
However, they are not considered exotic animals under Ohio law, according to the Dispatch.
