Of the 56 wild animals – including six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, 18 tigers, and two wolves – that escaped their private wildlife sanctuary in Zanesville, Ohio, only six were rescued; the rest have been shot by local authorities.

There wasn’t really any other way this was going to go down, but it’s still pretty grim. Only a grizzly bear, three leopards, and two macaques were recovered from the mass escape; 49 other animals were shot, and one monkey (believed to be carrying Herpes B) was eaten by one of the big cats.

Said Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, where the rescued animals were transported:

I’m sorry for what happened to these animals, but also for what could have happened to people. Let’s hope this never has to happen again in any state. This is a tragedy for the animal world. It could have been a bigger tragedy for the human world.

According to officials, Terry Thompson – owner of the wildlife sanctuary in question – released the wild and exotic animals before taking his own life a short while later. No suicide note was found.

[Source: NBC4i, 10tv , CNN]