A zebra was shot dead by police on Sunday in the United States after he attacked his owner, who injured his arm. Police think the animal was protecting the female zebras on the property.
Police Deputy Michael Oberley reported that as he arrived on the scene in the state of Ohio, “a large male zebra charged my driver-side door and was acting very hostile.”
An officer’s body camera footage showed a man chasing the zebra away with a stick. The zebra kept hanging around the area. Police said they felt that they needed to shoot the animal as he was acting hostile. An officer shot the animal in the head.
The exact injury to the man who was attacked by the zebra was unclear. While one deputy wrote in his report that the victim’s arm had been “bit off by the zebra,” a police spokesperson told news agency AFP that his arm was broken. An Ohio healthcare spokeswoman said the man was “in fair condition”.
Zebras are generally not aggressive towards humans but can display aggressive behavior when they feel threatened, cornered, or under stress. Police said the zebra might have been seeking to protect the five or six female zebras that were seen in the property during the incident.
The animals are allowed to be kept as pets in the United States.
