Zebra Shuts Down Connector

Published Feb. 18, 2010 at 10:29 p.m.
(WSB Radio) -- A Zebra likely belonging to Ringling Bros. Circus in Atlanta this week escaped Philips Arena roaming the streets of downtown Atlanta and finding his way to the Downtown Connector.

Authorities had to close the interstate southbound from the Grady Hospital curve to the I-20 interchange as law enforcement tried to corral the zebra and walk him up an exit ramp.

Initially three Atlanta police officers on motorcycles tried to corral the animal until handlers could grab hold of his reins. 

Then two men walked the zebra southbound on the highway toward the I-20 exit ramp while motorists in only the left most lanes looked on.

All traffic in the right south bound lanes were closed as the zebra slowly trotted southward.

Shortly before 5:30pm, a horse trailer drove down the I-20 eastbound on ramp and police were able to walk the animal into the trailer.

Traffic was tied up for just over half an hour.  Experts say the zebra is likely to take tonight off as the pads on his hooves are bloodied.  Seems the animal is not accustomed to trotting on asphalt and cement.

Using a combination of reports from AJC staffers and eye-witness accounts, here's the route the zebra took:4:37 p.m.An AJC staffer spotted the zebra on Fairlie Street behind the Atlanta Journal-Constitution building. A circus trainer said the zebra had to have gotten through a hole in the gate.The zebra walked down along a ramp on Spring Street and went up to Marietta Street.It then ran to Luckie Street and over to Broad Street.From Broad Street, the zebra ran up through the Five Points area and was near the Five Points MARTA station.Nance and Harris saw the zebra run along Alabama Street -- toward the circus animal holding area, which is across the street from the CNN Center.5:00 p.m.The zebra was contained in the parking lot by the Richard B. Russell Federal Building, near the CNN Center and Philips Arena.Trainers were walking with the zebra when it started to charge, dragging one of the trainers momentarily before it took off again, running across the railroad tracks and through a gate. One of the trainers was holding on to the zebra as it ran through the gate.The zebra ran through the parking lot and down through the tunnel between Philips Arena and the CNN center.It then came out onto Baker Street and turned left, running onto Williams Street. It followed the ramp onto the downtown Connector.The zebra was cornered on the downtown connector just before the Martin Luther King Jr. exit.This isn't the first time a zebra has been out on the highway in recent years. A young zebra was found stranded and injured on I-75 in Butts County in April 2008. Then a zebra who usually lives on a farm across from Oxford College's Newton County campus was zebra-napped and deposited inside the college's Seney Hall as part of a prank.


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