A gaggle of zebras threw Washington residents for a loop over the weekend!
Four of the striped equines received free in a neighborhood on Sunday, April 28, after the driving force of the truck that was transporting them pulled over to safe the trailer.
“This is a first for me and all @wastatepatrol troopers involved,” Washington State Patrol Trooper Rick Johnson started in a tweet shared on X (previously often called Twitter) on Sunday.
His put up included two photographs — every exhibiting a single zebra trailing carefully behind a police automotive on a roadway.
“4 Zebras that were being transported got loose when the driver stopped to secure the trailer EB 90 to exit 32. The community has come together to help. One cornered, 3 outstanding. Crazy!!” his social media message continued.
In a follow-up tweet shared on Monday, April 29, Johnson mentioned one of many animals was nonetheless unaccounted for.
“#ZebraUpdate. The 4th zebra is still on the loose. This is being handled by the King County Regional Animal Services. More updates when I get them! Keep an eye out for a Zebra!!” he wrote at 1:50 p.m. native time.
The weird sighting had many doing a double take.
Dan Barnett of North Bend, Wash., mentioned he noticed the zebras consuming grass off the aspect of the offramp, Seattle’s King 5 information station reported.
His response to seeing a mini herd of zebras roaming alongside the street?
“Somewhat little bit of disbelief, and actually simply, how can we assist?” he advised the outlet.
Barnett and different motorists did their finest to get the animals out of incoming visitors and hurt’s means.
“The vehicles on the offramp kinda pulled over by the guardrail and kinda lined up actually near form of make a makeshift fence to maintain them from developing onto the offramp space,” he mentioned.
While officers and civilians teamed as much as maintain the zebras secure, this precipitated the group of animals to disperse into a close-by neighborhood.
“So I referred to as somebody and was like, ‘So I found the missing zebras, they’re in my yard. Yeah – unsure what to do,’ ” Whitney Blomquist advised King 5.
But quickly, they’d set their sights on one other location.
“Two of them are within the barn simply previous my home,” Blomquist mentioned, noting that the zebras had gone to her neighbor’s residence.
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Barnett added, “They’re actually lovely animals, and thru no fault of their very own, discovered themselves in a really complicated place. So let’s simply hope all of them make it to residence.”
The zebras have been being transported from Washington to Montana earlier than their grand escape, per Associated Press.