Ronald Clifton Ohio man mauled by zebra in Pickaway County. Farmer attacked by male zebra protecting females in herd at farm in Circleville. Nearly loses right arm.
‘I think he tore my arm off… send a chopper.’ These are the words an Ohio farmer uttered as he desperately called 911 moments after being badly mauled by a zebra over the weekend.
Ronald Clifton, 72, was discovered writhing in agony, with his arm nearly torn off his body when responding deputies with the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office arrived at a field in Circleville, Sunday afternoon.
Police were forced to fend off a herd of zebras along a field as they tended to the ‘distressed man’. It was while tending to the fallen man that a large male zebra charged the side door of a police cruiser.
Police bodycam captured blood pouring from below the injured man’s elbow as another officer trained a 12 gauge shotgun on the beast. A police report told of the man sustaining a bite wound just below the right elbow, WSYX-TV reported.
A tourniquet was applied just below the injured man’s shoulder as officers walked the mauled man to an ambulance.
Ohio allows for the legal ownership of zebras
It was while Clifton was being led into the ambulance, that the same male zebra, the only one in the herd was once again seen walking ‘aggressively’ towards police. Despite efforts to scare the animal away, police were forced to fatally shoot the animal.
As the only male in the herd, police said the zebra was being protective of the five or six females in the field.
Clifton was rushed to Grant Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, to be treated for his severe injuries.
He is now reportedly in a stable condition and will not lose his arm.
In the state of Ohio, zebras are not considered wild dangerous animals and are allowed to be owned, while local governments may have restrictions.
