COEYMANS, N.Y. (AP) -- Authorities say the 15 buffaloes that escaped from a farm have been shot and killed because they became a danger after crossing the New York State Thruway.

Three men hired by the farm were cleared to open fire Friday afternoon in a stream in woods in the town of Coeymans, about 10 miles south of the capital.

Police say the decision was made after experts agreed tranquilizers would not be effective and no portable corrals could hold the animals.

Authorities say they escaped Thursday from a farm across the Hudson River in the Rensselaer County town of Schodack. The owner believes they swam across the river to the town of Bethlehem, where they wandered across a busy stretch of Interstate 87 and into neighboring Coeymans.