Missing water buffalo found in Pleasant Hill, Iowa
Police bodycam captures chase of water buffalo in Des Moines
A police bodycam showed officers attempting to capture the animal.
The water buffalo that has been roaming loose in Pleasant Hill since Saturday has been found and police are trying to tranquilize it, KCCI reports.
Two police officers, animal control and a Polk County Conservation truck with a flatbed trailer gathered at the East Des Moines Girls Softball Complex, 411 SE 36th St., around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Officers appear to be in a nearby wooded area. ATVs were also spotted near Southeast 36th Street and Vandalia Road, near a quarry.
The area is southwest of the Community State Bank in Pleasant Hill, where officers fired once with a shotgun while trying to capture the animal on Saturday.
More: Body camera shows Pleasant Hill police hesitant to shoot a free-roaming water buffalo
Since then, the water buffalo could no longer be caught.
The water buffalo, who has now become an unexpected celebrity and has been nicknamed “PHill” by local residents, was about to be shot when he jumped on his owner and fled from his farm north of Pleasant Hill early Saturday morning. Police found him a short time later in the bank’s parking lot.
The officer who fired the shot said he hit the animal, but there is no clear indication in body camera footage released Tuesday that it was injured.
It was last seen Saturday morning in Little Fourmile Creek, heading south toward Scott Avenue and Oakwood Boulevard.
Pleasant Hill described the animal as “aggressive” and urged anyone who saw it not to approach it but to call police. The local police department said it has asked the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for help in locating the injured animal, which is using drones, ATVs and bicycles.
This story will be updated.
