Modern-day New York City has a proud tradition of relatively exotic animals roaming its streets, from escaped peacocks and peahens to the coyote of the West Side Highway bike path to the deer of Bay Ridge, to say no thing of a whole series of fugitive veal calves and other slaughterhouse-bound livestock.
But unless our memory is faulty, this is first time in a while that a zebra has been spotted on the loose.
The wildlife show began around 9:20 a.m. today for Zachary Osher, the owner of Metropolitan Drape and Blind on Victory Boulevard in the Staten Island neighborhood of Travis, who happened to be looking out the window when he saw what appeared to be two large hoofed animals trotting by.
“They ran past me, and then they made a loop around the parking lot,†Mr. Osher said. “I thought they were circus animals.†Like any quick-thinking citizen, he grabbed his iPhone and ran out shooting.
“They came around and they were galloping,†he said. “The pony was in the lead and the zebra was behind.â€
The unlikely pair dodged traffic on the busy street and exited the frame, pursued, Mr. Osher said, by two men in dark suits carrying lassos.
Mr. Os her sent his video to The Staten Island Advance and went back to work.
It was unclear how the zebra and its companion spent the morning, but by 2:30 p.m., the police reported that the pair â€" the unstriped animal was actually a horse, the police said â€" had been captured and returned to their home, a petting zoo up the road at Victory Boulevard and Travis Avenue.
No such zoo is officially listed, but judging by this photo snapped in front of an auto garage at 1305 Travis Avenue and posted to Twitter two weeks ago, the zebra (or a zebra at any rate) is no stranger to the area.
