NORTH BEND, Wash — Sunday afternoon, four zebras escaped a trailer on eastbound I-90 when the driver stopped to secure them. It happened near exit 32 in North Bend around 1 p.m.
Just after 2 p.m., Washington State Patrol tweeted that one of the zebras had been cornered, but that three were still outstanding.
This is a first for me and all @wastatepatrol troopers involved. 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!! pic.twitter.com/8lF75tnbyZ
— Trooper Rick Johnson (@wspd2pio) April 28, 2024
Around that time, we started seeing people posting video on social media of the zebras running down the road, with officers in pursuit.
Just after 3 p.m. WSP said that three of the four had been “wrangled.”
KIRO 7 spoke with several people who saw those Zebras run right by them.
“And they ran right past us. You could hear hooves clacking against the road. It was pretty cool,” Renuka Walavalkar said.
Of course, several people’s cameras at home captured those zebras roaming in their yards.
“I mean, I capture bears on my camera all the time, but zebras? No!” Whitney Blomquist said.
Blomquist still can’t believe she saw zebras in North Bend.
“I keep talking about it just because I have to like to convince myself that it really happened!” Blomquist said.
Courtney Luther told KIRO 7 she tried to wrangle one of the zebras that had found its way into her neighbor’s yard.
“It was probably like a donkey size. Yeah. It kind of sounded like a donkey. Much different, but similar. It was frightening. It was exciting. It wasn’t such a boring Sunday anymore,” said Luther.
That was one of three zebras that have been caught. The remaining zebra, an adult male, has not been located.
We spoke with a man named Dallas who claims to help King County Animal Control with their more “exotic” requests. He says they were able to corral some of the zebras at a nearby farm area in North Bend.
“They ran actually into a pasture and they were able to shut the gates on them and keep them down there until we were able to get up here,” Dallas said.
He says there is no question this is his strangest rescue he’s ever done.
“Top. This is probably the top one I’ve ever had to deal with due to it’s…zebra’s. I never thought North Bend would have zebras running wild in it,” Dallas said.
UPDATE: We got a close look at 3 of the Zebras that were on the loose in North Bend. One is still out there. @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/qDyWXSGY6a
— Jake Chapman (@JChapmanNews) April 29, 2024
KIRO 7 has learned that the zebras were heading to an animal sanctuary in Montana.
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