Zebras Break Free From Circus For Brief Taste Of Freedom

A couple of zebras, who were set to perform at O.co Coliseum over the weekend, managed to escape from UniverSoul Circus on Friday. The two presumably terrified creatures were spotted running north on Hegenberger Road near Edes Avenue, a major East Oakland road.

Naturally, people tweeted about it.

According to KRON 4, "Circus personnel were able to herd them back" in time for the show. The zebras were unharmed during their temporary brush with liberty.

While it is getting rarer to see performing circus animals these days — SeaWorld, for example, announced plans to finally phase out its cruel killer whale program and Ringling Brothers ended elephant acts due to pressure — animal rights groups say that exploitation extends beyond elephants and Shamu. However, UniverSoul Circus reportedly treats their creatures humanely. They even have a strict animal rights policy on their site, which, in part, states, "We strongly oppose any form of cruelty or mistreatment of animals, wild or domestic — and will not tolerate any mistreatment on our circus site. In over 19 years and more than 10,000 performances, none of our animal vendors have ever been cited for animal abuse while performing at the UniverSoul Circus."