A band of wild animals are apparently on the loose, prowling through a small town in Oklahoma after they were sprung from their enclosures by a tornado that hit the exotic animal park Wednesday.

According to KOKH News, Bill Meadows, the owner of the park, is a firefighter who was on call with the fire department when the storm hit. He was reportedly having trouble getting back to the park to check on the animals but confirmed some had escaped.

Residents are encouraged to stay inside but local newscasters assure viewers everything is going to be OK because an elite team of zoo owners practice for this sort of thing, like, all the time.

I did talk to Joe Schreibvogel, he was one of the founders of the GW Exotic Animal Park down in Wynnewood—now they are perfectly safe down there—but Joe is actually on a response team for situations like that.

He’s trying to get ahold of the sheriff’s office to see what help he can assist in providing tranquilization. They have rehearsed this and there is an animal response team for exotic escapes here in Oklahoma, especially the central Oklahoma area.

In addition to the tigers, the park holds a number of wild animals, including leopards, lions and lionesses, alligators, civets, wallabies, bobcats, pythons and boas.

[image via Tiger Safari]


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