Zebra almost rips Ohio man's arm off

Source: Orlando Ducay Jr. / 500px / Getty

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a FAFO alert.

Working with animals is a serious business. Even the most “domesticated” animal can and will f**k you up under the right circumstances and a man from Ohio recently found himself smack dab in the middle of those circumstances. According to NBC4i, police responded to a call about an who had been attacked by a zebra. Yes, a zebra. If you thought the stripey horses were some punk pretty boys then allow them to reintroduce themselves.

The word “attack” might come off as somewhat innocuous to you on first read but the injury that this man received is more akin to a bear or crocodile attack than a zebra. When officers arrived on the scene, they found 72-year-old Ronald Clifton laying on the ground bleeding severely from below his elbow. When he called 911 for help the dispatcher almost didn’t believe him until he confirmed, “I think he tore my arm off…send a chopper.”

Despite using air horns in an attempt to scare off the wild animal, the zebra was going nowhere and police had to render aid and get Clifton into the ambulance under the watchful eye of the equidae attacker. They were warned by workers not to turn their backs to the zebra because that is when he will attack. After aggressively approaching the officers and refusing to back down, one of the boys in blue grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun and plugged a round into the animal’s head.

Says Dan Beetem, Director of Animal Management at The Wilds:

“Male zebras are territorial. Their job is to get and hold a group of females that he wants to breed, and he’ll be very protective of those against any kind of challenger.”

Police say that Clifton was treated at the hospital in a timely manner and will not lose his arm.