Police Kill 24 of Animals Freed From Ohio Preserve

Tony Dejak/Associated Press

A tractor carried a carcass for burial at the Muskingum County Animal Farm on Wednesday in Zanesville, Ohio.

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Law enforcement officials in Ohio on Wednesday said they believed that they had captured or killed all but three of the animals that escaped from an exotic animal preserve after the owner of the property released the animals, then fatally shot himself.

 
At least 25 animals — including lions, wolves, bears and at least one tiger — were shot and killed by deputies and other law enforcement personnel armed with assault rifles to prevent the animals from attacking humans, said Sheriff Matt Lutz of Muskingum County.

At least one of the fleeing animals — it was unclear which species — was struck by a vehicle on a highway adjacent to the 46-acre preserve, and one of the monkeys kept at the compound was killed by a lion, officials said.

Sheriff Lutz said in a news conference on Wednesday that the authorities had sought to shoot one of the fleeing Bengal tigers with a tranquilizer dart, but that the dart had either missed or served only to enrage the 300-pound tiger.

“It just went crazy,” Sheriff Lutz said. “We had to put it down.”

Officials said that either 48 to 51 animals were kept at the compound, based on two conflicting lists kept by caretakers, and that only a mountain lion, a grizzly bear and a monkey remained unaccounted for.

Various species of monkeys found inside a house on the property were not harmed. They had been left inside their cages.

The sheriff described some of the animals that had been killed as “mature, very big, aggressive” with “high potential” for being dangerous to humans.

“Our main priority right now is protecting our public,” he said as the hunt for the remaining animals continued.

The owner of the preserve, Terry Thompson, 62, was found dead on the property. He had been released from federal prison on Sept. 30, said Fred Alverson, a spokesman for the United States attorney’s office in Columbus. Officials said they believed Mr. Thompson had shot himself.

There were no other reports of injuries or attacks on people, the authorities said.

Although many details about the incident remained unclear, the authorities described a chaotic, bloody scene on Tuesday when deputies first arrived at Mr. Thompson’s rambling preserve.

It was not clear what prompted deputies to respond to the property, but Mr. Thompson had had numerous run-ins with local law enforcement officials for years, many involving charges of animal neglect.

As deputies arrived at the property Tuesday at about 5:30 p.m., they observed dozens of animals out of their cages and behaving aggressively, officials said.

Sheriff Lutz said given that it was only about an hour and a half to nightfall — and that the prospect of finding bears and big cats under such conditions would have been difficult and dangerous — he had little choice but to give his deputies permission to shoot animals as they encountered them. He said his deputies do not carry tranquilizer darts with them.

In addition to lions, Bengal tigers, mountain lions and various varieties of monkeys, the preserve contained grizzly and black bears, cheetahs, leopards and wolves.

During the height of the bedlam on Tuesday night, the sheriff told reporters, “Right now, we’re shooting to kill.”

On Wednesday, he told reporters how unprepared his officers were for dealing with large, fleeing animals.

“I had deputies that had to shoot with sidearms,” Sheriff Lutz said. “These are 300-pound Bengal tigers that we had to put down.”

Once the extent of the danger became apparent, he said, deputies were given high-powered assault rifles and rode in the beds of pickup trucks, where throughout the night they shot the animals as they cornered them.

At one point during the confusion, Sheriff Lutz said, it was unclear how many animals had been killed, saying, “When they’re shooting animals in all directions, it’s hard to keep track.”

After receiving criticism from animal rights activists, the sheriff justified his decision.

“We could not have animals running loose in this county,” he said. “We could not have that.”

Law enforcement authorities said they believed that Mr. Thompson opened the animal cages before shooting himself.

“We feel he released these animals,” Sheriff Lutz said. “We are not looking for suspects in this case.”

Schools and businesses in the area were closed on Wednesday morning, and the authorities asked people to remain indoors and to call the sheriff’s office if they saw any animals.

Greg Bishop reported from Zanesville, Ohio, and Timothy Williams from New York. J. David Goodman contributed reporting from New York. Barclay Walsh contributed research.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: