After five Americans, apparently members of the Animal Liberation Front, liberated about 1,500 minks from Ebert's Fur Farm in southwest Ontario, about 100 of the animals subsequently died from exposure, others were killed fighting with each other and another 30 were hit by cars on nearby roads.

Farm owner Bill McLellan said most of the animals, raised in captivity for their fur, were recaptured during a wild, early morning chase, with 200 still unaccounted for. "They don't understand what they've done," McLellan said. "They thought they'd live happily ever after in the wild, but these are very domesticated."

Mink are indigenous to parts of northern Ontario but would likely be in hibernation in late March, he said. McLellan added that this was the second such incident at the farm in two weeks.

†