Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 4, 1994 TAG: 9401040168
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DINWIDDIE LENGTH: Short
But there it was. A full-grown, honest-to-goodness zebra standing in the middle of a road early Saturday.
"I thought if I told someone, they'd really think I had a New Year's Eve," he said.
The still-missing zebra escaped from its pen sometime Friday night, after a group of boys spooked it, said Frances Harrison, the animal's owner.
Harrison, who raises exotic animals on her farm on Virginia 751, bought the female zebra, named Michelle, in November as a mate for her male zebra.
Addington said it was obvious to him the zebra was tame. "She let me get close to her, but not too close," he said. "And she didn't spook. She just loped off."
Searchers on horseback tracked Michelle to Leonard's Campground in Sutherland before melting snow made following the animal's path impossible.
"When the search party could follow her tracks, they said she was just wandering back and forth," Harrison said. "She`s not really heading anywhere."
Zebras come from Africa, and snow is not part of their natural habitat, Harrison said.
"Because of the cold, I've had to keep her under a heat lamp in the pen," she said.
Harrison said she was afraid that the longer the zebra was loose, the dimmer the chances were of it being found alive.
"She's cold, she's cut and she's probably injured," Harrison said.
by CNB