You probably think of a water Buffalo in a setting like India, Borneo, or Sumatra. These big, tough, and sometimes aggressive animals live naturally there.
As of this writing, however, a wild water buffalo has been loose around Pleasant Hill, Iowa. Local authorities have yet to be able to capture the animal.
No Bull!
The owner of a rogue water Buffalo near Pleasant Hill was going to slaughter it, but the animal escaped and is missing since Saturday.
A deputy in body-camera footage of officers trying to corral a loose water buffalo says that the animal was about to get shot when it jumped on its owner before escaping.
The Des Moines Register obtained body camera footage of a Pleasant Hill Police officer and two Polk County Sheriff’s Office officers wearing mirrored sunglasses talking with a farmer near train tracks in rural Polk County just north of Pleasant Hill’s city limits.
It’s a little amazing that this animal has managed to escape recapture for so long. A prize animal like this is likely worth quite a bit of money, and the owners are eager to return it. It is impossible that authorities have not yet found a bovid weighing one ton that looks like a water buffalo.
Locals are likely to be angry with those who let this monster loose.
The deputy told the Pleasant Hill officer on the body-camera footage that they tried to eat and kill the animal, but the creature escaped. It jumped on him before he was able to shoot it. He wants to take it out now.
A second deputy asks the farmer how he would drag the water buffalo from the tracks back to his land if it were killed.
It’s unlikely that the farmer is concerned about this. He probably has a tractor to transport the animal back to the butcher shop.
Moving a dead or alive one-ton udder is no small feat.
An updated version of the story was available while this article was being written.
Iowa Farm Sanctuary in eastern Iowa posted on Facebook Wednesday that the water buffalo was shot in the chest. It is now being treated at the Iowa State Large Animal Hospital. The water buffalo had been surrendered to them by the owner and will be returning after its treatment.
Water buffalos are owned by someone and represent a substantial investment. If they do not get them back, they can be compensated. It did, however, make a move to escape. Perhaps our water buffalo deserves to retire.
After this pun, I will return to the Wednesday that is already underway.
