An American man is in hospital after being seriously injured after being attacked by his zebra, who was later killed by police fire, according to what the Ohio state authorities announced Tuesday.

According to reports issued by the police chief's office in Pickaway County, Ohio, that the arm of Ronald Clifton, 72, was amputated in the attack, pointing out that one of the policemen quickly put a ligature to stop the bleeding, while other policemen restrained the animal.

"A huge male zebra attacked the driver's side door of my car and was very aggressive," said Deputy Police Chief Michael Oberly.

"It appeared that Clifton had bleeding in his right arm, just below the elbow," he said.

While Oberly was tending to the victim, the zebra returned to pose a threat to the Clifton family and other police officers.

Video footage from the policeman's body camera showed a man chasing the zebra with a stick. After the failure of this attempt and the failure of another policeman to remove the animal, the policeman shot the zebra in the head.

The exact nature of Clifton's injury was not clear. And while police officer Nathan Welch wrote in his report that "the zebra bit the victim's arm," a police spokesman told AFP that the police believed the arm had been amputated.

A local NBC affiliate reported that zebras are not classified as dangerous wild animals under Ohio law and are therefore permitted to be possessed in the state.