Lions in Ohio “Roaming the Countryside”

“It’s scary.”
 — An Ohio man who owned a nature preserve has been found dead, and almost all his animals — lions, bears, cheetahs — have escaped. The cause of death is unreported, although “aggressive” animals were apparently found near his body, and, to read between the lines, it seems like he set them free in a law-defying zoological kamikaze cage-opening. So far the police have killed 25 of the animals, and the rest are (were?) being tracked down by SWAT teams with night-vision goggles. The story is bizarre and horrible, and in this telling of it there’s an even more bizarre part at the end about (someone else’s) mask and water bed.

Related: An unfortunately timed travel piece.

Update: The owner shot himself; some efforts have been made to tranquilize the animals.

[Via Natasha and The Daily What]