Terry Thompson wasn't the most popular man with his neighbours in Muskingum County, Ohio - and releasing his collection of lions, tigers, wolves and bears before  killing himself could have been the ultimate "f--- you to everyone around him".

"Nobody much cared for him," Mr Thompson's neighbour, John Ellenberger, told The Associated Press.

Residents living near Mr Thompson's 30-hectare property spoke of his brushes with the law and how they were fearful of the creatures he kept.

Indeed, the 62-year-old's death on Tuesday - three weeks after he was freed from jail for possessing unregistered guns -might have been reported only in the local newspapers, except that he opened the gates to his farm and released more than 50 exotic animals.

Official attempts to hunt down the animals from the privately run Muskingum County Animal Farm near Zanesville have made international headlines, but less is known about Mr Thompson.

His wife, Marion, had threatened to divorce him and was no longer living on the farm, US media reported.

Angie McElfresh, who lived in an apartment near the farm, told AP the animals' release "could have been a 'f--- you' to everybody around him."

Danielle White, whose father was Mr Thompson's neighbour, said she had "heard a male lion roar all night".

"It's always been a fear of mine knowing [the owner] had all those animals," she told AP.

"He was in hot water because of the animals, because of permits, and [the animals] escaping all the time," she said, adding that, just a few weeks ago, she had to avoid some camels from the farm grazing beside a freeway.

Terri Wolfe from the Animal Shelter Society of Muskingum County said Mr Thompson was proud of his menagerie, which roamed around his farm "like they were cows and horses".

In 2007, he brought bear and lion cubs to a pet fair and was told by the organisers to leave, Ms Wolfe told the Los Angeles Times.

Mr Thompson used to work at a Harley-Davidson dealership and had been a pilot - a skill he put to good use a few years ago when he arrived in a helicopter to pick up a Corvette convertible he bought from Ms Wolfe.

"That was pretty odd," she said.

Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said police and other officials had been receiving complaints about Mr Thompson's property since 2004.

He was convicted of animal cruelty in 2005 after three cows and a bison died on another of his properties, the Times reported.

Federal police found more than 100 weapons on his farm in 2008. In 2010, he was sent to prison on weapon charges and released a few weeks ago with a condition that he stay confined to his property for a year, the Times added.

Yesterday, his wife worked with renowned animal handler Jack Hanna to help move the remaining animals, that were not released, to Columbus Zoo, where Mr Hanna is based.

"She's lost a husband, she's lost a lot of animals she's been very close to," Sheriff Lutz said.

Mr Hanna, describing the farm as "Noah's Ark", said he never thought something like that could happen in Muskingum County, the Zanesville Times Recorder reported.

"You can usually train these animals, but you can't tame these animals. And the power of these animals is tremendous," he said.

A number of emergency calls made to Ohio police and reported by The Washington Post reflected the shock people experienced when they realised a wild animal was roaming nearby.

"[She's] seen a large animal go into the cemetery.

"About five minutes ago there was some type of large animal in the alley behind her house. It had yellow eyes.

"He'd just seen a large brown animal walking down the back of his residence. He knows it was not a dog or cat.

"He just heard a lion roar in the woods.

"His 19-year-old sister saw a large white cat cut through the yards heading to Chaps Run Park, larger than a German shepherd."

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