PLEASANT HILL, Iowa — A water buffalo is roaming around an Iowa town, and police are warning people that the animal is injured and aggressive.
Police in the Des Moines suburb of Pleasant Hill responded Saturday to a report of an animal in the road. It turned out to be a water buffalo, and the owner told police the animal was aggressive.
That became the case when police and animal rescue and control groups attempted to contain the water buffalo and return it to its owner’s property. Those efforts “resulted in the animal displaying aggression toward Pleasant Hill officers, resulting in one shotgun blast, injuring the animal,” police said in a Facebook post Monday.
The wounded water buffalo escaped. Police used drones and ATVs to find the animal and called in people with expertise in water buffalo. The animal was still on the run in the town of about 11,000 on Tuesday morning.
“If anyone sees a water buffalo, DO NOT GO NEAR IT,” police said on Facebook.
According to the water buffalo website, water buffalos can weigh up to 1,200 kilos. National Geographicalthough the Iowa animal appears smaller in photographs. The water buffalo, which is often domesticated, is the largest member of the Bovini tribe, which also includes the yak, bison, African buffalo, several species of wild cattle and others, the website says.