Famed escapee Buddy the beefalo adjusting to life in Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A bison hybrid who roamed the woods in Connecticut for months after escaping on the way to the slaughterhouse has adjusted to life in a Florida animal sanctuary.

Buddy the beefalo “has fully integrated into the herd” and has not tried to escape since the second day after he arrived at Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary in Gainesville, the facility posted on Facebook this month.

“There must be something about being surrounded by happy, stress-free animals that put him at ease,” Critter Creek officials posted. “We are so thrilled Buddy’s story has had such a happy ending.”

The 800- to 900-pound (360- to 410-kilogram) beefalo, a cross between a bison and domestic cattle, bolted on Aug. 3, 2020, while being loaded off a truck at a meat processing plant in Plymouth, Connecticut.

Buddy's adventures, including appearances on a wildlife camera set up by police, earned wide attention during his eight months on the lam.

Funds were raised to send Buddy to the Florida sanctuary, but when he first arrived he didn't want to stay in his pen, the sanctuary officials said. “In fact, he was so hesitant that within about two minutes, he had jumped the fence of the pen and gone into the horse pasture,” they said on Facebook.

Buddy appears to have settled in, though. A recent video shows him happily eating hay with other bovines.