Sam Kopchak, who lives next door to the Zanesville, Ohio farm belonging to Terry Thompson and from where dozens of exotic animals escaped Tuesday, spoke to Shepard Smith about witnessing a lion and bear running loose yesterday afternoon.

Kopchak was on his own property and preparing to put his horse in his barn when he saw a bear. Moments later, he saw a male African lion on the other side of Thompson’s fence, a mere 30 feet away.

Kopchak kept his calm, continued walking toward the barn, and then remained there for over an hour for his own safety. He recalls after calling the authorities, deputies arrived within 15 minutes. While ‘it’s very sad’ that 48 animals had to be killed, Kopchak said authorities had no choice because of the danger the animals presented.