Dangerous exotic animals turned loose, hunted down in Ohio

A tiger cub for $700.

A baby cougar for $675.

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Animal rights advocates say there was little police could do to save dozens of exotic animals set free from a privately-owned preserve before the owner committed suicide. Officers shot and killed the animals, including 18 Bengal tigers. (Oct. 20)

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Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, speaks about the Ohio animal tragedy in which exotic animals were killed after being released from captivity. (Oct. 20)

And a 2-year-old giraffe for $25,000.

Private collectors actively trade in exotic animals all over the United States in a vibrant and poorly regulated market. One such collector created a day of fear and outrage after he turned loose dozens of lions, tigers, bears and other exotic animals in a small Ohio town and then shot himself Tuesday night.

Terry Thompson, 62, was found dead on his property. Through the night and into Wednesday afternoon, the animals from his private menagerie became the victims of an impromptu big-game hunt by sheriff’s deputies seeking to protect residents in Zanesville.

Schools were closed Wednesday, and residents were advised to stay indoors. Callers to 911 reported lions, bears and unidentified large mammals in back yards, wandering through cemeteries and near highways.

Deputies shot and killed 18 rare Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, two grizzlies, three mountain lions and a baboon, the Associated Press reported. Three leopards, two monkeys and a grizzly bear were captured and sent to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. A wolf was found dead, and a monkey was still at large.

Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz told reporters that officers were ordered to kill the animals rather than sedate them for fear that those hit with darts would escape into the darkness before they dropped. “These animals were on the move. They were showing aggressive behavior,” Lutz said.

Thompson’s Muskingum County Animal Farm was familiar to local authorities. In 2005, Thompson paid a $750 fine for animal cruelty. Since 2004, he had been fined at least a half-dozen times for “animals on the loose,” a misdemeanor. Last month, he left prison after serving a year for gun violations.

Experts and animal rights groups said the scary scene in Ohio was a direct consequence of the wide availability of exotic animals, many of which are now bred in the United States.

“You can find absolutely any animal on the planet for sale in the U.S.,” said Bryan Christy, author of the 2009 book “The Lizard King,” an exposéof wildlife trafficking. “People who keep these large carnivores, it’s the same thing as keeping a loaded gun. That we allow people to keep bears and lions and tigers on their property is outrageous.”

Web sites such as exoticanimalsforsale.net match breeders and buyers. Wednesday the site listed a giraffe for $25,000. The Animal Finders Guide, a long-running classified newspaper, offers everything from aardvarks to zebras. And at barns in Ohio, Missouri, Texas and Indiana, sellers and buyers get together every few months for live auctions of exotic animals.

September sales at the Lolli Brothers Livestock Market in Macon, Mo. — identified by animal rights activists as the largest exotic-animal auction house in the country — included a tiger cub and a baby cougar, according the market’s Web site. But when reached by phone Wednesday, co-owner Dominic Lolli denied trading in big cats. “We never have,” he said.