Tennessee just wrapped up one of the strangest and most delightful manhunts—er, zebra-hunts—in recent memory.
After more than a week on the loose, Ed the Zebra, the four-legged fugitive who captured the hearts (and memes) of the internet, has finally been caught. According to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, Ed was safely wrangled in a pasture near a subdivision in Christiana, a town in central Tennessee.
And because nothing about this story was going to be ordinary, Ed didn’t just walk into a trailer. Nope. He got the VIP treatment: lifted into the air by a helicopter while wrapped in a net—his striped head poking out like a very confused, very famous jungle piñata. The whole thing was caught on video and posted by the sheriff’s office. Watch below
Ed’s great escape began on May 30, shortly after arriving in Christiana. His owner reported him missing the next day, and that’s when things got wild.
At one point, Ed was spotted sprinting alongside cars on Interstate 24, forcing deputies to temporarily shut down the highway. He later vanished into the woods, eluding both officers and fans eager to spot Tennessee’s newest celebrity.
Social media went full throttle. Videos of Ed trotting through neighborhoods started popping up, followed by a flurry of memes. One showed Ed casually dining at a Waffle House. Others had him hitting the tourist trail across Tennessee or panhandling like a seasoned local.
Of course, Ed’s viral adventure came just weeks after a kangaroo managed to shut down traffic in Alabama. So, if you’re keeping score: the South is officially in its zoo animal on the run era.
As for Ed? He’s back home, safe and sound, likely grounded for life—and totally unaware of the internet fame he left in his wake.
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