# Lions, tigers, bears loose in my hometown. Oh my. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093 "2011-10-19T01:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/21 "2011-10-19T14:23:36Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > 31 of the 48 animals have been killed. Disgusting. Cars _actually have_ killed people in Ohio, but you don’t see police rounding up and destroying all cars “before they kill someone.” > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Seems like it should be possible to have one guy with the tranq gun who takes first shot - backed up by several guys with real guns ready to take the animal down if the animal threatens anyone on scene. That’s pretty much how they handle the _much_ more dangerous “crazy person waving a gun” scenario – cover him with real guns while trying to resolve thing peacefully. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/22 "2011-10-19T15:20:58Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Cars _actually have_ killed people in Ohio, but you don’t see police rounding up and destroying all cars “before they kill someone.” Every year 10,000 are killed by lightning–when are we going to climb Mount Olympus and wrestle the bolts away from Zeus before he kills again?! ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/23 "2011-10-19T15:59:48Z")
Latest report is that they have all but 3; they are missing a mountain lion, a grizzly bear and a monkey. If I had to face off with a grizzly I would prefer the rifle to a tranquilizer gun. As noted it could take a few minutes to knock it out, and you probably need to be closed to the bear than I would be comfortable. Plus, bulletproof vests don’t protect you from claws and teeth. Also, these animals have been raised on a private farm; we have no clue how they have been treated and how they act. They might not even be fit to live in a zoo. Finally, grizzly bears, mountain lions, giraffe, and camels aren’t endangered anymore and cheetahs are even in the lowest “threatened” category these days. They aren’t out shooting escaped dodo someone had hidden in a basement. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/24 "2011-10-19T16:41:39Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Finally, grizzly bears, mountain lions, giraffe, and camels aren’t endangered anymore and cheetahs are even in the lowest “threatened” category these days. They aren’t out shooting escaped dodo someone had hidden in a basement. Eh, humans are the most populous large animal on the planet, and we’re allegedly doing this to prevent the _possibility_ one of them might come to harm. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/25 "2011-10-19T17:02:40Z")
> [@](#): > > giraffes, camels > [@scudsucker](#): > > Glad they mentioned the _really_ deadly animals. The giraffes can come at you with their prehensile tongues if you don’t stay out of range. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/26 "2011-10-19T17:09:54Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Disgusting. > > Cars _actually have_ killed people in Ohio, but you don’t see police rounding up and destroying all cars “before they kill someone.” I keep my Toyota Sienna caged up at night so that it doesn’t get loose and go on a rampage. Which it will absolutely do, given the slightest provocation. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/27 "2011-10-19T17:33:16Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Disgusting. > > Cars _actually have_ killed people in Ohio, but you don’t see police rounding up and destroying all cars “before they kill someone.” Cars are not sentient beings capable of independent action, fear, panic, and rage. Lions, tigers, and bears are. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/28 "2011-10-19T17:37:50Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Cars are not sentient beings capable of independent action, fear, panic, and rage. Lions, tigers, and bears are. It depends. When we want to eat or experiment on animals, we tell ourselves they are NOT sentient beings capable of independent action, fear, panic, and rage. When we want to shoot them with cheap, widely-available bullets instead of somewhat-more-expensive, less-common tranquilizer darts, we argue the reason is that they ARE sentient beings capable of independent action, fear, panic, and rage. We like to have it both ways. edited to add: the system “cars _controlled by human drivers_” certainly make some decisions out of fear, panic, and rage. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/29 "2011-10-19T17:42:28Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > edited to add: the system “cars _controlled by human drivers_” certainly make some decisions out of fear, panic, and rage. No. Cars do not make decisions. Not even cars controlled by human drivers. Human drivers make decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/30 "2011-10-19T17:43:15Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The giraffes can come at you with their prehensile tongues if you don’t stay out of range. 😃 I seem to recall that a giraffe can kick a lion to death. It would surprise me if one could not do the same to a human with ease. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/31 "2011-10-19T18:01:44Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > It depends. > > When we want to eat or experiment on animals, we tell ourselves they are NOT sentient beings capable of independent action, fear, panic, and rage. [Tonto] What’s this _we_ shit, white man? [/tonto] I tell myself no such lie when I am eating meat, or hunting an animal I intend to kill and eat. (I’d not hunt an animal unless I was going to eat it, and I’m not a biologist so experimenting is not a live issue for me.) > [@](#): > > When we want to shoot them with cheap, widely-available bullets instead of somewhat-more-expensive, less-common tranquilizer darts, we argue the reason is that they ARE sentient beings capable of independent action, fear, panic, and rage. > > We like to have it both ways. Again, please lose the _we_ shit. I’m not trying to have it both ways. I would have preferred that the animals be captured by non-lethal means, but I’m not willing to risk the lives of the public or the officers charged to capture them to wait until tranq guns and persons trained in their use were available. Non-human animals are less important to me than human animalsl, because I am the latter. Also, please note that I called lions, tigers, & such sentient, not sapient. That wasn’t an accident. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/32 "2011-10-19T18:05:02Z")
Somebody has been playing Jumanji again. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/33 "2011-10-19T18:07:26Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The giraffes can come at you with their prehensile tongues if you don’t stay out of range. 😃 Which isn’t a bad thing depending on your preferences. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/34 "2011-10-19T18:08:03Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Cars _actually have_ killed people in Ohio… I bet they were upset about the ethanol. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/35 "2011-10-19T18:59:28Z")
Another great example of why states should have, and enforce, exotic animal possession laws. Everybody can help: just don’t patronize zoos unless they are [AZA-accredited.](http://www.aza.org/findzooaquarium/) ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/36 "2011-10-19T19:20:22Z")
Mencius Moldbug already covered this issue: > [@](#): > > For example, I simply can’t imagine what it would be like to live in San Francisco if there were fifty or sixty leopards loose in the city. But I can see how people would get used to it. Leopards are nocturnal, so you stay in at night. They hide in trees, so you cut down the trees. They tend to hunt in certain areas, so you avoid those areas. And the situation could develop gradually - the first leopard is a huge news story, the second is a smaller story, and they build up over time. After a while, the experience of walking down the street while checking for leopards would strike you as completely normal and unremarkable. If one day the leopards were removed, however, you would definitely notice it. Nice metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/37 "2011-10-19T19:30:37Z")
Just saw Jungle Jack Hanna on the afternoon news giving a press conference along with the sheriff of the county I grew up in. (This whole thing is so surreal.) Hanna was clearly very broken up about the whole thing, and was in tears a couple of times, but seems to strongly support the sheriff’s “shoot to kill” decision. Someone on my Facebook feed posted a photo showing dozens of the dead animals laid out in a field, and it kind of sucked a lot of the humor away for me. (Though, OK, not all.) ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/38 "2011-10-19T19:46:42Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Here’s what’s going on just west of me. (Warning - cat pictures) > > [http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2011/1018/20111018\_\_lion05~p1.jpg](http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2011/1018/20111018__lion05~p1.jpg) > > [http://mcenter.slideshowpro.com/albums/027/935/album-273050/cache/lion10.sJPG\_900\_540\_0\_95\_1\_50\_50.sJPG?1318996436](http://mcenter.slideshowpro.com/albums/027/935/album-273050/cache/lion10.sJPG_900_540_0_95_1_50_50.sJPG?1318996436) > > [http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/10/mountain-lion-checks-out-cat/#name](http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/10/mountain-lion-checks-out-cat/#name) here That was so awesome! The inside kitty cat was all “HA! I WIN!! LOLZ!” And the mountain lion was all “How YOU doin’ sexy little thang?” ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/39 "2011-10-19T19:50:08Z")
The reason so many were killed is because they were loosed in the night. Police and zoo officials were afraid that an animal, if shot with a tranq, would run into the night, get lost, pass out and then eventually wake up pissed off. Today Columbus Zoo officials have managed to capture 6 animals alive. They didn’t say which animals were taken to the zoo. Here is the latest breakdown: Killed 18 Bengal Tigers 17 Lions 8 Bears 1 Wolf Still Loose 1 Wolf 1 Monkey The monkey may carry disease and will, therefore, be killed when found. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093/40 "2011-10-19T19:52:52Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > The reason so many were killed is because they were loosed in the night. Police and zoo officials were afraid that an animal, if shot with a tranq, would run into the night, get lost, pass out and then eventually wake up pissed off. > > Today Columbus Zoo officials have managed to capture 6 animals alive. They didn’t say which animals were taken to the zoo. > > Here is the latest breakdown: > Killed > 18 Bengal Tigers > 17 Lions > 8 Bears > 1 Wolf > > Still Loose > 1 Wolf > 1 Monkey > > The monkey may carry disease and will, therefore, be killed when found. ☹ There’s only about 2000 Bengal tigers in the whole fricking world. I still support the sheriff’s decision to kill 'em, but if the idiot who loosed them hadn’t killed himself already, I’d be tempted to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-tigers-bears-loose-in-my-hometown-oh-my/600093.md?page=3)