One or more intruders broke into an Iowa mink farm and released 2,000 of the furbearing animals in what a trade group called a “terrorist act” under federal law.

Sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning, fencing was cut and pens and nest boxes were destroyed to release the mink, which are raised for their pelts, Fur Commission USA said. The farm is near Woodbine, Iowa, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Des Moines.

Just over 60% of the mink had been recovered by Friday morning, though time is running out to find them all before they succumb to threats in the wild, Fur Commission USA Executive Director Challis Hobbs said.

People have attacked mink farms similarly and been charged under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which defines a person as a terrorist if th

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