An ‘aggressive’ water buffalo is on the loose and prowling the streets of Iowa

An “aggressive” water buffalo escaped from its owner in Iowa over the weekend and remained on the loose Tuesday, with police urging residents in and around Des Moines to keep their eyes peeled and steer clear of the creature.

Police in Pleasant Hill issued a statement Monday with the words “do not approach it” written twice in all caps to describe the beast, which might have been injured when officers fired a shot at it.

“The owner informed us the animal is aggressive,” according to the police statement.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office has launched a drone to search for the animal along with ATVs along bicycle trails near Little Fourmile Creek, police said.

“The safety of the Pleasant Hill community is our top priority.” police said. “With a dangerous animal loose in our community, we are using all resources available to keep our community safe and attempt to return the animal to its owner, if possible.”

Pleasant Hill resident Martin Pontier, 34, said the animal appeared calm as it strolled through his backyard on Saturday.

“Yeah, he was just walking. He’d look up and take a look at us and see what was going on,” Pontier said Tuesday. “He was never running around or anything.”

There was no damage to his home, and Pontier’s 4-year-old son Rian was left with fun stories to tell his preschool classmates.

“I’ve learned more about Asian water buffaloes in the last 72 hours than I ever cared to know about them,” Pontier said.