Police Hunt for Lions, Bears & Cheetahs After Mass Escape From an Ohio Farm

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (The Blaze/AP) — Schools closed and motorists were warned to stay in their vehicles as officers with assault rifles patrolled a rural area in eastern Ohio Wednesday, a day after police killed dozens of escaped animals from a wild-animal preserve, where the owner was found dead.

As authorities warned that more animals still were on the loose, three school districts in the region and some private and special schools canceled classes as the remaining bears, big cats and other beasts from the Muskingum County Animal Farm were hunted down.

Flashing signs along area highways told motorists, “Caution exotic animals” and “Stay in vehicle.”

Authorities wouldn‘t say how the farm’s owner Terry Thompson died, but said it wasn’t suspicious.* However, several aggressive animals were near his body when deputies arrived and had to be shot. Thompson, who lived on the property, had orangutans and chimps in his home, but those were still in their cages.