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Law enforcement officials wound up on a wild goose chase when two zebras fled a pumpkin patch in suburban Chicago over the weekend.
Drivers along Route 47 observed the unusual escapees on Sunday (October 3). “Local Pumpkin Patch has some escapees! Goebberts, come get your zebras! 🤣🦓😱 Pingree Grove, IL,” a TikToker wrote, sharing a Hampshire IL Community Network post of “Zebras running north alongside Sandwald road!!!!!”
The zebras were in an enclosed pen at Goebbert’s Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard in Pine Grove before crossing the road and roaming the fields. The animals were so close to Interstate 90 that Illinois State Police had to get involved, the Associated Press reported Wednesday (October 6).
The farm’s Jacob Goebbert told the Daily Herald “it was all hands on deck” as everyone pitched in to help wrangle the zebras.
Another business provided the animals to the farm, and it wasn’t immediately clear how they managed to evade their enclosure. Ultimately, officials spent a couple of hours at large before they were safely returned. Kane County Undersheriff Pat Gengler told the Daily Herald that the local law enforcement agency has responded to loose cows, horses and even emus — but this marked their first zebra chase.