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'I hope I can find them': Bison farm owner desperate to find missing herd

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Mesut Ates is desperately looking for his missing herd of bison along Highway 64 near Crystal Falls, between Field and Sturgeon Falls.

"The herd escaped their pen Thursday afternoon after high winds knocked over a tree crushing the fence where they were enclosed, they were spooked and bolted," said Ates.

"I hope I can find them. If it snows, they’ll try to find an open field, and if I spot them I can put some feed out and lure them back to the farm."

He said 8 bison escaped, but one of the animals collided with a car on Highway 64 around 11 p.m.

Police said in a news release Friday the driver was not hurt.

OPP is asking anyone who sees the animals grazing in a field or along the highway to call the Nipissing West detachment.

"We want to make the people be aware that these animals are wild now," said OPP Const. Rob Lewis.

"They’re unpredictable, and they’re known to charge. We’d like to let the public be aware to stay away from them and not approach them."

Ates got his bison in August and is heartbroken not knowing where they are.

"I feel sad. I put everything into this to be successful," he said.

"Right now I don’t have any of them and I don’t have much financial power to start all over again."

Mesut says he’s not ready to give up and plans to do everything in his power to find his missing herd.

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