As WA zebra search continues, officials ask people to stop crowding area

King County officials are asking community members concerned about a missing zebra who is likely somewhere along the Snoqualmie Valley Regional Trail to stay away.

People have flooded the area, bringing unleashed dogs and mountain bikes and scaring off the zebra, Metropolitan King County Councilmember Sarah Perry said Thursday.

Perry asked the director of the county’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks on Thursday morning to close off the Boxley Creek area to the public to help capture the zebra.

Parks employees will post “trail closed” signs Friday morning at key access points along the Snoqualmie Valley Regional Trail near the Boxley Creek Natural Area, department spokesperson Eleanor Lee said.

The zebra, known as Z, remained on the loose Thursday after escaping a trailer Sunday on Interstate 90, when her owner stopped on the side of the road to secure the trailer in North Bend. The three other zebras were returned to their trailer. Their owner was transporting them from Lewis County to Montana, where she runs a 7-acre petting zoo.

Contrary to initial reports, the missing zebra is a mare, or female zebra, the Regional Animal Services of King County said Thursday.

“Help us rescue him by staying away for a couple days and just hearing about it, then we will have a chance,” Perry said. “But with all this mountain biking, dogs and people, he’s never going to come forward.”