African Lion Roaming Streets of Ohio

I hope they find it soon, as its bound to get hungry. Considering that humans are relatively soft, easy prey...

GAHANNA, Ohio (AP) � Police were looking Tuesday for a lion that several residents reported was on the prowl. �I�m convinced it�s a 300-pound to 400-pound African lion,� deputy police chief Larry Rinehart said. �We�re scurrying. It�s a heck of a day.�

www.marionstar.com...

[Edited on 5-4-2004 by William One Sac]

I'm in OHIO !!!

Gahana is near Columbus OH. I've driven through there before, there is quite a bit of wooded areas there.

I'm going to talk to my sales guys down there to see if they've seen anything.

Hopefully no one will get hurt.

Including the Lion.

This reminds of that story of the bull in a shop cant remeber the whole thing but the shop owner had the bull caught red hoofed on video!

I know someone at The Columbus Zoo. I'll try to get in touch and see if they have any inside scoops on the re-capture efforts.

This is quite odd. Authorities have called off the search, and were due to give a news conference on why about an hour ago ( I think). I have been researching the big cat on the run phenomenon in the U.K. for a while now, and I know just how stealthy, cunning and elusive these beasts can be. Oh well, anyhow, its supposed to have been called quits. Someone must have caught it because there was definitely a big cat wandering around, around there. Police officers are considered expert observers...

GAHANNA, Ohio -- Officials have called off a search for a wild animal in Gahanna, Ohio.

Authorities received reports that a 300- to 400-pound African lion had been spotted in the Gahanna area four times in less than 24 hours.

It is unclear why the search was called off. Gahanna police scheduled a news conference for 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

www.nbc5.com...

Unless they found the cat's body, I would'nt have called it off, too much of a risk. My best bet that it was a couger mistaken for a lion.

I am getting conflicting reports here. Most news outlets are still reporting that the search is still on. They are using helicopters to try and flush the animal out.

Police in the Columbus suburb of Gahanna are still searching for a lion on the loose.

A police helicopter flushed out a coyote in the area but so far no lion has been spotted.

Lion Still On The Loose In Central Ohio

The lion has been spotted again. Link includes slideshows...


Lion Reportedly Spotted Saturday: Animal Report Third In 4 Days

My 2 cents. They are never going to get this cat. I live in Columbus. If you do some Internet searches you can find that Ohio, for whatever reason, has dozens of strange big cat sightings every year and nothing is ever captured. People see lions, tigers, black panthers, etc. The reason might be that it is not illegal in Ohio to own a wild animal. Last that I heard, you didn't even need a license to own or travel with a lion in Ohio.

On a side note, Ohio is also known for it's bigfoot sightings with many bigfoot experts saying that if a bigfoot is ever found it will most likely be discovered in Ohio. What many people do not know is that Ohio is covered with some very thick forests that apparently hold all kind of wild creatures.

I think that they can catch it. But, I think it may just take a while. They missed it a few times, and most likely will again. And, I'm sure the state would have issued some sort of lock down or safety measure if they thought it was VERY dangerous.

I really don't think they will catch or kill anything. Ohio had a full grown tiger running around a couple years ago and no one got it. We had couple black panthers. We've had some mountain lions and bobcats. And there was even reports of a zebra running around. None of these animals were ever found. Some people think they are as mythical as bigfoot - just people's imaginations running wild.

It sounds crazy but people even report seeing a strange animal that looks like a cross between a bear and a deer that has a cat like nose.

Here are some links:

BIG CATS PROWLING SOUTHERN OHIO
home.fuse.net...

MYSTERY CATS IN OHIO:
www.geocities.com...

Put "Ohio" in their search engine:
www.cryptozoology.com...