Call 911 if you see the runaway zebra; don’t try to capture it yourself
May 1, 2024, 6:07 PM | Updated: May 2, 2024, 9:10 am
One of the zebras on the loose after escaping its trailer on I-90 East. (Photo courtesy of Trooper Rick Johnson via X, formerly known as Twitter)
(Photo courtesy of Trooper Rick Johnson via X, formerly known as Twitter)
It’s been only a few days since Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) officers got their first call about zebras running loose on Interstate 90 (I-90) near North Bend. At this point, there’s just one runaway zebra still unaccounted for.
“We’ve had to become zebra experts in a short amount of time,” Cameron Satterfield of RASKC said.
Still, he’s confident they’ll catch the male zebra who escaped Sunday along with three female zebras when their owner adjusted their trailer.
“He has apparently returned at least near the area where the other three were captured,” Satterfield said.
All four were corralled in a horse pasture. Two mares and a filly returned to the trailer but the stallion jumped a fence.
Since then, “We have had a number — and I can’t even put a count on it — but a number of confirmed and unconfirmed sightings in the last 24 to 48 hours,” Satterfield noted.
Exclusive photo: New image of missing zebra eluding capture from authorities days later
Don’t play zebra vigilante
What would help animal control the most?
“If you see it, in real time, call 911 immediately,” Satterfield said.
That will allow animal control officers to try to get to the animal quickly.
He added that people shouldn’t go up to the animal and try to take matters into their own hands.
“We are definitely discouraging folks from approaching the zebra themselves or attempting to capture it on their own,” Satterfield explained.
He says that could endanger both well meaning individuals and the zebra.
Ring and cell phone video show that, so far, the zebra is surviving OK in the wooded areas in and around North Bend.
“It looks like he’s still in good shape,” he said. “In fact, in one of them I saw it looked like he was just eating some grass out in a field, somewhere,”
But Ring video showing a cougar using the same trail that the zebra has been spotted on is raising concerns.
“Obviously,” he says, “We’re talking the foothills of the Cascades. There are predators, out there, right?”
Uh oh! Cougar spotted on same trail as missing zebra wandering North Bend
How you can help
If you see the missing zebra, call 911.
You can email photos or video that might help locate the zebra at RASKCMedia@kingcounty.gov. The general phone number for RASKC is 206-296-7387.
Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on X, formerly known as Twitter, or email her here.
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