{"id":509984,"date":"2026-03-07T21:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T21:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/509984\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T21:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T21:46:13","slug":"oryx-spotted-near-beaman-park-in-joelton-raises-safety-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/509984\/","title":{"rendered":"Oryx spotted near Beaman Park in Joelton raises safety concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

JOELTON, Tenn. (WSMV) – Neighbors are urging the owner to come forward after they believe the animal has been loose for nearly a week. <\/p>\n

An oryx has been spotted multiple times on Little Marrowbone Road near Beaman Park, and neighbors say the animal has been on the loose for nearly a week.<\/p>\n

The most recent sighting came in the early morning hours when Charlotte Barnes\u2019 boyfriend photographed the animal on his way to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would not move out of the road \u2014 it actually continued running in front of his vehicle down the road,\u201d Barnes said.<\/p>\n

Neighbors said concern over safety is increasing. <\/p>\n

The oryx is a member of the antelope family and is considered dangerous due to its sharp, spear-like horns, which can grow up to 33 inches long. Experts say the animals are not typically aggressive but can be if hurt or cornered.<\/p>\n

\"WSMV<\/a><\/p>\n

Barnes said the unpredictability of the animal on the road is what worries her most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on the road at all hours \u2014 I don\u2019t know if I could stop and miss hitting that thing. You\u2019re not expecting an oryx to be in the middle of the road,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cThe horns on this thing \u2014 that would kill a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wildlife officials said the oryx may be exotic, but as a Class 3 animal it is legal to own in Tennessee. Officials said it is the owner\u2019s responsibility to recapture the animal.<\/p>\n

Barnes called on the owner to act.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like the owner to come forward and take responsibility for this animal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Anyone who sees the animal is advised to keep their distance.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 WSMV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JOELTON, Tenn. (WSMV) – Neighbors are urging the owner to come forward after they believe the animal has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[231418,231419,3729,3,231420,231421,79,2219,201,75948],"class_list":["post-509984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-beanman-park","tag-joelton","tag-local","tag-news","tag-oryx","tag-oryx-on-the-loose","tag-science","tag-tennessee","tag-wildlife","tag-wsmv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}