ZEBRA MAULS OHIO FARMER!

Shot dead after ripping apart owner’s arm

AWILD zebra nearly ripped the arm off its elderly owner — leaving the brutalized farmer bloodied and helpless — but Ohio lawmen ended the hooved hellraiser’s rampage with a bullet to the head!

Ronald Clifton, 72, made a panicked phone call to 911 after he was savaged by the striped stallion, causing the confused operator to ask, “You got attacked by a what?” The maimed man explained, “I think he tore my arm off. Send a chopper,” before pleading, “Come before it gets me again!”

According to Pickaway County Sheriff’s Lt. Johnathan R. Strawser, the senior was burning brush on his property when he was blindsided from behind by the male monster. Investigators believe the animal instinctively launched the assault to protect the six female zebras in Clifton’s legally owned herd.

Bodycam footage from cops shows the beast’s agonized victim crumpled in a field. Lawmen attempted to use a police cruiser’s flashing lights and blaring sirens to drive the striped menace away from Clifton. But as first responders attempted to render aid, the aggressive attacker circled the scene — and charged at deputies!

“I had to make a decision,” says the officer who shot the equine. “I put a slug right between its eyes.”

Strawser calls the incident a “freak thing” and says Clifton, who was treated at a local hospital, had the zebras for “quite some time” without any problems. While the farmer’s limb was seriously injured, Strawser adds, “We believe they saved it. So that’s a positive thing.”

“When I was a boy the Dead Sea was only sick.” — George Burns

The striped beast attacked to protect a herd of female zebras, investigators believe

Police bodycam footage shows Ronald Clifton, who called 911 after being savaged

An officer took down the creature as it charged toward lawmen