Online stardom is a lifeline for absconded Newark steer, other escaped livestock

Whether you’re a lamb on the lam, a cow on the prowl, a goose on the loose or a runaway rooster, social media attention may be your ticket off the dinner table and into the soft life.

The food-to-fame pipeline's latest beneficiary is Ricardo, a red Texas Longhorn who drew widespread media attention for his dramatic escape onto the tracks at Newark Penn Station on Thursday morning. The wayward steer snarled commutes and delayed NJ Transit train service between Newark and New York Penn Station, but his striking appearance and defiant stance in photos made him a near-instant social media star.

“Every single one of us deserves freedom and has the right to fight for it,” one fan wrote on X.

After Newark and Port Authority police apprehended him, Ricardo was taken to Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue in Wantage, New Jersey, according to social media posts by the nonprofit. Video shared on the sanctuary’s Facebook page shows the steer demurely cocking his massive, sharp-horned, hay-adorned head as someone behind the camera coos at him.

“Do you know who I am, eh?” Skylands founder Mike Stura is heard saying from behind the camera. “I’m your new dad!”

“You’re good, buddy,” Stura added. “You’re safe now. Nobody’s gonna mess with you anymore. Look how handsome you are.”

The steer is estimated to be about 18 months old and clocks in at around 800 pounds, CNN reported.

Skylands is home to several formerly fugitive farm animals, including another runaway ruminant: the famous Canarsie calf, who was taken in by Stura this past spring, Gothamist previously reported. Freddie the bull found refuge there in 2016 after escaping a Jamaica slaughterhouse. A pregnant cow named Brianna joined him there in 2021 after she fell off a slaughterhouse-bound truck on Route 80.

Some “steak-holders” weren’t amused by Ricardo’s daring escape.

“It’s not a funny story, OK?” said an unnamed representative from Victoria Livestock and Poultry Market, a Newark slaughterhouse located just a block from where the steer was first spotted on Thursday morning. The representative declined to give any additional information about Ricardo’s origins and hung up on the reporter who contacted them.

Stura, Skyland’s founder, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. If you want to see Ricardo thriving in person, the sanctuary opens for tours on May 15.

No bull: After taking stock of available information, we found that Ricardo, the escaped animal, is actually a steer, or castrated bull. This post has been updated to steer our readers in the right direction.