Photo: Washington State Patrol Trooper Rick Johnson
Four zebras were caught on camera running along Interstate 90 in Washington State, halting traffic and wreaking havoc on Sunday (April 28). The exotic animals got loose when the driver stopped to secure the trailer near Exit 32 in North Bend, Washington State Patrol Trooper Rick Johnson wrote on X.
Video obtained by KOMO shows the zebras running around in traffic, forcing drivers to slam the brakes or pull off to the shoulder. Another clip shows three of the zebras running along a road as several law enforcement vehicles follow them.
Cops and civilians teamed up to wrangle two of the zebras into a pen, while a foal was corralled on a street. One remains missing as of Monday morning (April 29).
"This is a first for me and all [WSP] troopers involved... Crazy!!" Johnson said.
Whitney Blomquist, who owns a rental in the area, said security cameras detected the zebras walking around her property.
“I've had plenty of bears in my yard but this was a new one, for sure," she told reporters.
The rental owner also revealed the driver was a rodeo clown transporting the zebras back to Montana.
“They had a rodeo clown who was on his way, I guess to a rodeo, and they were using him to help corral,” Blomquist explained. “We got zebras on the loose, we’ve got a rodeo clown. I’m like, ‘Cool, we’ve officially turned into a zoo here.’”
King County Animal Control confirmed the privately-owned zebras are from Montana and will be returned once they're all captured.
Officials encourage the public to report sightings of the missing zebra.