Circus Monkey, Lion Were Reported On The Loose In Southwestern Ohio

FOX19.com-Cincinnati News, Weather

Things have been getting crazy in southwestern Ohio.

On Monday morning, Cincinnati police said they had received several reports of large monkey the loose near downtown Cincinnati, ABC affiliate WCPO-TV reported.

One caller said a monkey had escaped from a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey train, which was passing through the city around the same time, local Channel 12 reported.

But when the train was stopped, engineers told police there were no monkeys onboard, just elephants "and a few other animals," Channel 12 notes. The search was called off about an hour later, according to WCPO.

Strange as it may sound, this was the second report of an escaped wild animal in the Cincinnati area in the past few days.

On Friday, a man in nearby Franklin Township called 911 to report that there was a "huge" lion in his backyard, according to local Fox affiliate WXIX-TV. The man, identified as Welden Workman, told an incredulous-sounding 911 dispatcher that the lion was "just layin' out there, cleanin' itself."

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which regulates exotic pets, said it was always possible that the lion belonged to someone, WXIX reported.

However, after searches didn't turn up a roaming lion, and because there was only one reported lion sighting, police called off the search a few hours after Workman's 911 call was placed, according to WHIO-TV.