Helping capture escaped wild animals

[RobJohnson]

My friend of about 35 years was in the news....


Former Niabi Zoo Director Tom Stalf is now helping to capture some of the wild animals that have escaped from a private farm in the Zanesville, Ohio area. Stalf was interviewed on The Today Show this morning about the crisis that has closed schools and prompted police to urge people to stay indoors. Stalf left Niabi last year to accept a position with the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Columbus, Ohio. He's one of the experts who've been asked to help capture some of the dozens of cheetahs, lions, wolves and other wild animals on the loose.

More (http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=15729201)

[bijou]

NOVEMBER 8--A quintet of young Ohio men were playing poker last month when they learned that dozens of wild animals had been set free in a neighboring city.

So the group piled into Richard Weidlich’s Jeep Cherokee at around 11 PM and drove the 25 miles from Cambridge to Zanesville, where cops had spent the prior five hours shooting lions, tigers, bears, and wolves that had been released by Terry Thompson from cages on his 73-acre property.

Joseph Jakubisin, 21, told TSG that he and his cronies planned to “photograph the animals” when they arrived in Zanesville. In short order, the group came across a dead lion, which was surrounded by three cars whose occupants were posing for photos with the dead animal (which had blood seeping from its head and mouth).

That’s when Weidlich, 20, and Jakubisin's cousin, 21-year-old Brian Matthews, decided to take the dead lion. Jakubisin said that it took the duo about 30 minutes of “messing around with it” to get the heavy carcass into the car’s hatchback trunk.

Jakubisin, who said that he and the Jeep’s other two occupants did not touch the lion, recalled telling Weidlich and Matthews not to take the lion because of “the simple fact that it is nasty.”

Weidlich had some “stupid ideas” for the lion, Jakubisin said, including making a “rug for his house,” or perhaps “stuffing it.” At the time, he added, Weidlich and Matthews were just “living in the moment.” ...http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/lion-carcass-theft-charges-432891