On May 31, a zebra escaped from a Christiana farm, painted the town black and white, and brought the community together in a special way. What began with the animal darting across I‑24 one Saturday morning—causing a brief traffic shutdown—quickly escalated in the hometown legend of our striped protagonist, Ed.

Just one day before the very public zebra sighting, Taylor and Laura Ford had brought the striped creature to Middle Tennessee after acquiring him from a breeder in Texas, thinking he would join them on their land alongside their alpacas, bison, ducks and turkeys.

However, the recently purchased pet zebra soon slipped away from the 115-acre farm and promptly became the talk (and meme) of Murfreesboro after many area motorists and residents spotted the creature roaming about.

Video footage of Ed trotting around town circulated widely. A community member dubbed the zebra “Ed” after his escape—a nod to famed black-and-white-striped NFL referee Ed Hochuli—and the name stuck.

Ed the runaway zebra became the biggest news in town, crossing highways and making appearances throughout the city, on social media feeds and even on the TV news during his self-guided tour of the area, earning fans around the world.

The runaway quickly became a local celebrity with the type of clout and recognition many influencers spend years trying to build, a symbol of joy, a fun Murfreesboro mascot and a source of unity, even, among so many divisive, heavy topics swirling on modern social media.

The galloping black-and-white beast known as Ed brought folks in Middle Tennessee—and far beyond—together in a unique way that few things do.

“We didn’t realize the magnitude of how the zebra would capture the attention of the entire world,” Taylor said.

In addition to the very real video footage of the zebra, local barbershops, breweries, bakeries and shops celebrated the beautiful animal; businesses across town wasted no time integrating Ed into their branding, creating and posting memes of Ed having a blast at points all over Murfreesboro, assisted by now-free and commonplace artificial intelligence image-generating technology.

In meme, the zebra line-danced at Whiskey Dix, enjoyed a snack at Donut Country, drove the go-karts at Go USA, attended the Great Tennessee Air Show, read the Murfreesboro Pulse, ate at Toot’s, went to the movies, tried on classy black-and-white tuxedos, shot pool at MJ’s and enrolled at MTSU.

I hope you had the time of your life.

In real life, the hunt continued for this wild animal amid hopes that he wouldn’t cause a serious traffic accident or attack someone. The search continued for days and Murfreesboro, Tennessee’s latest claim to worldwide fame became “that town with a loose zebra.”

Souvenir zebra t-shirt, available on Amazon

“Y’all wanna know why Ed became such an icon? ‘Cause he broke free from the system that was designed to cage him, and he was not just living his best life—wild, free and healthy—he was thriving,” said one Facebook commenter, LaLa Lagos. “Deep down, we all wanted to be Ed.”

After eight days of adventure, drones detected Ed in a field near Christiana and images of a zebra dangling from a helicopter flying above Rutherford County during a dramatic airlift became the next chapter in this local lore.

Transforming from complete unknown to superstar basically overnight, the zebra’s escapades inspired a creative explosion as his fans crafted songs, poems, children’s books and paintings in his honor.

A zebra mural appeared in downtown Nashville at the corner of 8th and Edgehill, produced by the street artist Bandit.

“I know everybody seemed to have fun with this and everybody loved it, but at the same time, one of my concerns the whole time was safety,” Taylor Ford told the Tennessean after Ed’s safe return.

Tennessee state law does limit the possession of certain animals—rhinoceroses, venomous snakes, crocodiles, all carnivores (tigers, bears, wolves, jaguars, etc.) and all primates—to zoos, circuses and commercial propagators.

Zebra ownership, however, is completely legal in Tennessee, no special permit required, as the state considers equidae (members of the horse family) Class III wildlife, along with rabbits, chinchillas, llamas, giraffes, marsupials, hogs, sheep, goats, chipmunks and a host of other animals.

Zebras, though, are more typically found roaming the African savanna, and the species is known to be wild and unpredictable—capable of sprinting at 40 miles per hour and even kicking and biting.

Luckily, the tale of the Murfreesboro zebra, at least its chapter of the animal roaming free on the streets for a week, had a happy ending—social media onlookers got some good laughs out of the ordeal, the Murfreesboro small business community had a season of solidarity releasing zebra-themed marketing pieces, and a healthy Ed was reunited with the Ford family.

Ed, pictured with a female zebra friend. The superstar zebra is now back at the ranch in Texas where he was originally purchased. Ed’s owners will no longer keep him on their property in Christiana but are still deciding on a safe, permanent home

The area’s creative culture, sense of humor and collaborative spirit shone as it celebrated Ed, the local mascot no one expected—but everyone embraced.

And the people of Murfreesboro shall tell their grandchildren of The Legend of the Zebra, along with local tales of Forrest’s ride through the courthouse and the Human Fly.