DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An escaped the water buffalo was located Wednesday, days after it was shot and injured during a weekend attempt to return it to its owner’s suburban property, officials said.
The animal was found in a wooded area in Des Moines, officials told local broadcast station KCCI-TV. Police were first called on Saturday after the animal wandered away from its pen and became aggressive in suburban Pleasant Hill.
That proved to be the case when police and animal rescue and control groups began trying to restrain the water buffalo and return it to its owner’s property. Those efforts “led the animal to show its aggression toward Pleasant Hill officers, resulting in a shot being fired from a shotgun, injuring the animal,” police said in a Facebook post Monday.
Iowa Farm Sanctuary, a rescue in eastern Iowa, posted on Facebook Wednesday that the water buffalo had been shot in the chest and is now on its way to the Iowa State Large Animal Hospital for treatment. They added that the water buffalo was surrendered by its owner and would join their farm after treatment.
Water buffalo can weigh up to 2,650 pounds (1,200 kg), according to the website of the National Geographicalthough the Iowa animal appears smaller in pictures. The water buffalo is often domesticated and is the largest member of the Bovini tribe, which includes yak, bison, African buffalo, various species of wild cattle and others, the website said.