There are lions roaming the busy streets of South Africa. Sometimes we even spot elephants casually strolling past our offices… If you believed that, you’re not the only one. But I’m here to tell you it isn’t true. Wild animals don’t just walk around our cities, while locals look on unperturbed. If you want to spot our Big Five, best you book a safari and visit one of the country’s many game reserves or national parks. And even then, it’s not a given that you’ll be fortunate enough to sight all, or even some, of them.
That said, I’d be lying if I said wild animals have never been spotted on our streets. Just last year, a hippo was caught on camera, roaming a Cape Flats residential area at night. He'd escaped through the fence of a nearby nature reserve. In 2019, 14 lions busted out of the Kruger National Park, sending some locals into a panic as authorities launched a massive search. And when it was announced in 2021 that over 100 crocodiles were on the loose in the Cape Winelands, after getting out of a breeding facility... it's safe to say many people steered clear of the river the crocs were believed to be cruising down.
But, wild animal escapees aren't confined to Africa. People have been sharing the times they've spotted animals on the loose. Like the family of bears taking a dip in a pool in Pasadena. Or the mountain lion that was seen trying to enter a casino in Nevada. Bored Panda has put together a list of our favorites. Let us know yours by upvoting them. You'll find more stories about wild animal escapes between the pictures, why conservationists believe it happens, and what to do if you ever come face-to-face with a lion. We also spoke to Africa travel expert Lukas Van Lishout from Secret Africa about what to expect when going on safari.
#1 A Loose Tiger Licks A Man's Face
A young female tiger got on the loose in Conroe, Texas (a suburb of Houston) in early 2016, and instead of eating the neighborhood pets, she inspired love in at least one bystander. Jonathan Gessner says that he thought he was going to be attacked by the tiger, but when it approached him, the tiger jumped up and started licking his face. Either this is the sweetest tiger in the world or it was playing major mind games with this guy.
Image credits: Harriet Sinclair
#2 Three Bears Go For A Swim In A Pasadena Pool
If we've learned anything from Hanna-Barbera, it's that sometimes animals just want to chill out. Which is exactly what these three bears did in Pasadena, California towards the end of summer of 2016. Outside of lounging by the pool, the bears also went dumpster diving and smashed a glass door. All in all it sounds like a pretty good day to be a bear.
Image credits: BBC
#3 A Monkey Drops By IKEA
We may love IKEA's wonderfully simple products, but just try visiting any of their stores on a weekend - it's a nightmare. The one thing that would actually make IKEA fun to visit would be if there were an adorable monkey walking around wearing a small fur coat (the coat is somehow distressing). In December 2012, the monkey wandered through a Canadian IKEA and became somewhat of a viral internet hit. After the monkey was rescued, its owner was fined a few hundred dollars and Darwin the IKEA monkey was sent to live with some cute little primate buddies at the Story Book Farm in Ontario.
Image credits: CNN
#4 Capybaras Run Away To Toronto
In what might be the cutest escape ever, two capybaras (like a hamster but much bigger) that were described as "quite shy" by their handlers somehow got out of their holding area at the High Park Zoo and ran away to Toronto. It took about a month to track down the canine-sized rodents, but the zoo staff finally captured the animals while they were grazing around the Grenadier pond area.
Image credits: CTV News
#5 Two Llamas Go On The Run
Nothing causes trouble like a group of llamas. First of all, that double L thing they have going on is confusing, secondly, the moment you get more than one llama running around the middle of nowhere in Arizona you've got to figure out if you're supposed to write "llllamas" or if it's still just "llamas." In the span of 24 hours, two sets of llamas escaped their confinements and raised heck in the aforementioned Arizona, and in Vermont all while the internet followed along. There was so little work done that afternoon it was almost named a bank holiday.
Image credits: FOX 10 Phoenix
#6 A Raccoon Torments A Chicago Family
In 2016, a Chicago family was the subject of derisive torment by a local raccoon intent on making their lives a living H E double hockey sticks. According to the Karnoscak family, the raccoon is bigger than a Pekingese, and it stands on their front porch when anyone comes home, blocking them from entering their house. The most telling quote of the interview comes from 59-year-old Beatrice Karnoscak who says, "He's not afraid of us."
Image credits: Ed Komenda
#7 A Lorry Driver Spots A Loose Lion
Maybe it's too much of a knee-jerk reaction to say that England shouldn't be allowed to have zoos, but maybe they shouldn't be allowed to have zoos. Not only do an inordinate amount of animals seem to be escaping from their zoos, like this lion who went on the lam in Cornwall, but there's a possibility that there's an entire family of "big cats" living on Dartmoor and feasting on the local fauna.
Image credits: JAMES DUNN/MARK DUELL
#8 A Giant Snake Stalks A Maine Town
Like something out of a Stephen King novel, a 10-foot long snake named Wessie haunts the Maine town of Westbrook where it's begun to attract a cult following. Wessie has a Twitter feed, obviously, and it even has its own theme song - which is actually more distressing than the idea of a giant snake slithering through a small town.
Image credits: Tony Marco
#9 An Antelope Escapes In Devon
Animals have no idea what people are up to with their cars and highways, so it makes sense that from time to time you're going to have an antelope escape from a zoo during its rutting (mating) season to try and figure out what we're doing. Luckily, the antelope found a nice neighborhood where it could hang out and was transported back to the Paignton Zoo without any incidents. Happy rutting season!
Image credits: BBC
#10 A Big Bird Freaks England Out
Rheas are some of the most notoriously annoying big birds in existence, and not just because their names are hard to spell. In August 2016, a pair of rheas escaped their wildlife encampment and began a Homeward Bound-esque adventure that saw one bird get captured immediately while the other made its way through the wilds of South Lanarkshire, inspiring tales of midnight sightings of a large bird darting through the grass. In the end, things turned out just fine for the bird ,who was returned to its home to live out its days with the rest of the rheas.
Image credits: BBC
#11 A Mountain Lion Tried To Enter A Casino In Reno, Nevada
When a 75-pound-lion tried to enter Harrah's Hotel Casino's revolving door in Reno, Nevada, in August 2012, police closed down the surrounding streets until it was tranquilized, the Daily Mail reported. It was later released back into the wild near Lake Tahoe's east shore.
Image credits: SNEJANA FARBEROV
#12 Pigs And Sheep Party In Cambridge
Cambridge is a bookworm's party town if ever there were one, so it makes perfect sense that the stars of Animal Farm would make an appearance on its cobblestone streets. According to Cambridge News, the animals were running all over town and had to be apprehended by the police, but the next day the pigs escaped again and had to be cornered by villagers with torches. We really hope that's a colloquialism for flashlights.
Image credits: Raymond Brown
#13 A Big Cat Freaks Out People In Ohio
We love cats. But cats are really weird and you never know how they're going to act. That's why when people in Powell, Ohio saw a large cat walking through a backyard in September 2016, they freaked the eff out. Even when an animal specialist said that it was probably just a regular house cat that grew a few more inches than your average tabby, people were still afraid to let their children play outside just in case it was a small cougar. Local woman Teri York was especially worried: “My first thought was I hope they catch it soon, because I knew we would be watching our grandson today and it was a beautiful day, so we would be outside and I didn’t want it near him."
Image credits: Mike McCarthy/Tom Bosco
#14 A Woman Loses 14 Pet Pythons In Georgia
First of all, of course someone lost 14 pythons in the middle of Georgia. Despite the ick factor that you and the citizens of Hephzibah, Georgia are feeling right about now, just know that the woman who owned those snakes is crying herself to sleep every night that her snakes remain missing. "It's a different kind of pet, but you do grow attached to them. You do grow affectionate for them. I was in the middle of moving and a person I'm just not going to mention right now was upset at me and did it, just kind of a childish thing, and let them out."
Image credits: Christie Ethridge
#15 A Goat Gets Out In Tewksbury
As worried as we are about this goat that ran amuck in Tewksbury in August, 2016, it's just a fun story to say out loud: "There's a loose goat in Tewksbury." When the goat was first sighted (near Main Street and "the power lines") police posted a series of tweets letting people know that the goat wasn't dangerous and that it was just roaming the town and checking out the sights. And because the goat got loose in 2016, it immediately started a Twitter account. There's still no word on whether or not it's going to make an appearance on YouTube Red.
Image credits: Nik DeCosta-Klipa
#16 Sheep Run Loose In Spain After Their Shepherds Fall Asleep On The Job
Come on, shepherd, you had one job. In June of 2016 an entire flock of 1,300 sheep had to be rounded up by local police in Huesca, Spain after their shepherd took a catnap. The police eventually found the shepherd, and with his help, they managed to round up the flock before they made their way towards the Pyrenean uplands, where his flock will graze during the hot summer months.
Image credits: ABC News
#17 A Moose Gets Loose In Massachusetts
For all its big talk about being one of the first states, Massachusetts really is one of the most backwoods areas of the country. Case in point: In June 2016 police had to chase a juvenile moose through a neighborhood until it could be apprehended by "special environment officers" in Belmont.
Image credits: CBS Boston
#18 A Minor League Game Is Wrecked By A Sheep
We can all admit that baseball is a snooze, right? And that the only good thing about minor league baseball is that it costs less than major league baseball. That is until one brave sheep took it upon themselves to spice things up at a Batavia Muckdogs (really?) game in August 2016. The sheep, who happens to be the mascot of the State College Spikes, ran on the field and started munching the delicious grass while players took a break from playing sudoku or whatever they do to apprehend the Spikes's star player.
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Image credits: Mark Hinog
