PLEASANT HILL, Iowa — Yes, there is a water buffalo wandering the metro.
The Pleasant Hill Police Department said the first sighting of the animal came Saturday morning, and its owner stated "the animal is aggressive."
Officers attempted to bring the animal back to the owner's property afterward. However, the animal fled, heading further into the city.
Once the water buffalo displayed "its aggressiveness towards Pleasant Hill officers," police shot the animal with a shotgun, injuring it. But even with coordination with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa and Des Moines Animal Control to capture the animal, it fled.
Pleasant Hill residents are still wrapping their heads around the fact that the animal is on the loose in their quiet neighborhood.
"I still was kind of in disbelief about it," said Dawn McSweeney, a Pleasant Hill Resident.
While search efforts continue, a major question that still looms is where it came from.
The Iowa Farm Sanctuary is offering its expertise to local law enforcement and learning new details to help.
"We were able to find out that the owner of the water buffalo, he was actually loading him to take him to the slaughterhouse or to be processed when the cow escaped," said Shawn Camp, Executive Director of Iowa Farm Sanctuary.
Camp believes residents have no reason to be scared of this animal.
"Just stay calm, he wants nothing to do with you," Camp said.
Despite all hands-on deck, search efforts using drones and ATV's, residents are still left confused.
"I just want to know where it came from and how it escaped, and basically, when it gets caught," McSweeney said.
The water buffalo was last seen in Little Fourmile Creek heading south toward Scott Avenue and Oakwood Boulevard in Pleasant Hill. Authorities began using an aerial drone to search the area where it was last seen alongside ATV's on bicycle trails alongside the creek.
"The safety of the Pleasant Hill community is our top priority. With a dangerous animal loose in our community, we are using all resources available to keep our community safe and attempt to return the animal to its owner, if possible," the department said in a Facebook post.
Pleasant Hill police say that if anyone sees the animal to not approach it and immediately call 515-265-1444.
Are water buffaloes dangerous?
The Pleasant Hill Police Department said the owner of this water buffalo told them it was aggressive. And the department added in a Facebook post that you should not approach the animal if you spot it.
Wild water buffalo can grow as big as six feet tall and weigh more than 2,000 pounds, according to National Geographic.
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