ATLANTA — It was one of the most bizarre moments on Atlanta’s notoriously notorious interstates. A zebra got loose and roamed the downtown connector during rush hour on Feb. 18, 2010.
Channel 2 Action News had live coverage of the spectacle.
The 12-year-old animal, named Lima, was exercising outside a downtown arena in preparation for an evening show when something spooked him, said Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus spokeswoman Crystal Drake. The zebra broke away from his trainers and bumped up against a fence, then wriggled through an opening.
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He was spotted by people in downtown Atlanta around 4:30 p.m., said Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Monica Luck.
Lima led his trainers and police on a 40-minute chase through downtown to the interstate highway that cuts through the center of the city, covering well over a mile along the way. Police cruisers blocked off all southbound lanes of Interstate 75 and were able to herd the zebra over to the right shoulder and off an entrance ramp, where his trainer was on hand to capture and soothe him, Drake said.
Traffic was backed up for several miles along the downtown connector.
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