Rodeo workers, police round up zebras found running on major highway in Washington state

In what might sound like a scene from the popular film Madagascar, police officers in the US state of Washington were called to deal with a rare traffic hazard, four runaway zebras seen running on a major state highway.

What happened?

The incident took place over the weekend when four zebras managed to escape the trailer that they were being transported infrom Washington to the US state of Montana via Interstate 90, according to a report by the Seattle Times.

As of Tuesday (Apr 30), one of the four zebras is still on the run, while three were recaptured after a bizarre rescue effort involving the state police and two rodeo professionals who happened to be passing by.

“This is a first for me and all (Washington State Patrol) troopers involved. 4 Zebras that were being transported got loose when the driver stopped to secure the trailer EB 90 to exit 32,” said Trooper Rick Johnson, in a post on X.

He added, “The community has come together to help. One cornered, 3 outstanding. Crazy!!”

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Johnson also posted two images of a lone zebra walking along a mostly empty highway, with some police cars around. A report by NBC News said that the animals escaped while their owner stopped to secure their trailer.

The incident report, viewed by USA Today, said that at around 1:00 pm (local time), on Sunday (Apr 28) the owner of the four zebras, Kristine Keltgen was driving them from Winlock, Washington to Anaconda, Montana.

During the drive, Keltgen reportedly noticed the trailer’s “floor mat flapping and dragging” and as soon as she opened the door to adjust the mat, the zebras rushed out of the trailer and onto the highway.

ABC affiliate KOMO of Seattle reported that the King County Sheriff’s Office was called around 12:52 pm (local time) and it was not until 2:36 pm (local time) that three of them were captured.

‘Rodeo clown’

One video posted on Facebook shows one of the zebras entering what looked like someone’s backyard. However,the person who posted the video clarified that it was not their house but was just helping to wrangle the zebra into someone else’s yard.

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“We got zebras on the loose, we’ve got a rodeo clown. I’m like, ‘Cool, we’ve officially turned into a zoo here,’” a local resident Whitney Blomquist told KOMO.

One zebra at large

In a post on X, the Regional Animal Services of King County, late Monday (Apr 29) asked the residents to be on the lookout for a zebra in the North Bend area.

“Our officers were able to corral three zebras that escaped from a trailer on I-90 Sunday, but a fourth is still on the loose,” it added.

(With inputs from agencies)