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A tiger cub for $700.
A baby cougar for $675.
And a 2-year-old giraffe for $25,000.
Private collectors actively trade in exotic animals all over the United States in a vibrant and poorly regulated market. Experts and animal rights groups said the scary scene in Ohio was a direct consequence of the wide availability of exotic animals, many of which are now bred in the United States.
"You can find absolutely any animal on the planet for sale in the U.S.," said Bryan Christy, author of the 2009 book The Lizard King, an expose of wildlife trafficking.
News of the exotic animals' escape in Zanesville, Ohio, disturbed Carole Baskin, chief executive officer of Big Cat Rescue, a 55-acre animal sanctuary in Tampa.
It's the kind of thing that could definitely happen in Florida, she said, despite the fact that Florida has some of the most stringent regulations regarding ownership of exotic animals.
"Florida has more killings, maulings and escapes than Ohio has," Baskin said. "Even though we have more regulations, they aren't being enforced."
For example, Baskin said, of the state's 347 facilities or homes known to have big cats, such as lions or tigers, 69 do not hold a $10,000 liability bond required by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to renew their licenses. Yet they continue to get license renewals anyway.
Rules for exotic pet ownership vary by state. About 20 have outright bans on private ownership of animals considered large and dangerous, including tigers, bears and great apes. But eight — Alabama, Idaho, Ohio, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin — have no rules whatsoever. Ohio officials say they are working to put rules into place.
Times staff writer Emily Nipps contributed to this report, which includes information from the Washington Post.
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