This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/17/georgia-zoo-official-escaped-lion-has-killed-man

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Georgia police shoot tiger that killed man after zoo escape Georgia police shoot tiger that killed man after zoo escape
(about 1 hour later)
Related: Floods in Tbilisi and its zoo – in picturesRelated: Floods in Tbilisi and its zoo – in pictures
Police in Tbilisi say a tiger that broke loose after severe flooding at a zoo over the weekend has been shot by marksmen after it killed one man and wounded another. Police in Tbilisi say a tiger that broke loose after severe flooding at a zoo in the Georgian capital over the weekend has been shot by marksmen after it killed a man and wounded another..
The Tbilisi zoo had previously said all lions and tigers missing after the flooding had been found dead and only one jaguar remained unaccounted for. It has now emerged that other animals may still be on the loose, amid conflicting statements from the government and zoo officials.
Amid scenes of panic in the centre of Georgia’s capital, police cordoned off an area of the city where they believed the tiger was hiding. Officers from special police units carrying tranquilisers and rifles were deployed to a warehouse. A government official said police would try to subdue the animal if possible “but would have to shoot it if there is any danger to life”. The man who died is believed to be in his 40s. The tiger reportedly attacked him around midday as he and two others entered a flood-damaged building near Tbilisi’s central Heroes Square, a few hundred metres from the zoo.
It is not clear how the animal, which police said was a young white tiger cub, managed to escape. Initial reports said the animal was believed to be a lion. It brings to 20 the number of people killed in the disaster, with most of the casualties residents of homes that were flooded by the sudden deluge on Saturday night. At least six people are still reported to be missing.
Zoo officials had said on Tuesday that eight lions, all seven of the zoo’s tigers and at least two of its three jaguars were killed in the flooding caused by heavy rains. Amid scenes of panic on Wednesday, police swarmed the area and officers from the “Special Tasks” department of Georgia’s Interior Ministry surrounded the big cat inside a complex of repair garages and warehouses. Initial reports had said it was a lion.
The floods on Sunday killed at least 17 people and ravaged Tbilisi’s central districts including the zoo, from which hundreds of animals – including wolves and a hippo – escaped. It appears the torrent was caused by a blockage upstream in the usually small Vera river, which burst after Saturday’s unusually heavy rain. About an hour and a half after the attack, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said the rare white tiger had been “liquidated”. The big cat was shot “as it tried to attack one of the officers”, said another official. He added “they had no possibility of using a tranquilizer”.
More than half of the zoo’s animals – some 300 species – either drowned in the muddy waters or were killed by police.
Begi, a large hippo rescued from the streets outside the zoo on Sunday, was placed inside an elephant cage on higher ground away from the flooding.
Related: Georgia police accused of unnecessarily shooting zoo animals in wake of floodsRelated: Georgia police accused of unnecessarily shooting zoo animals in wake of floods
Zoo staff on Monday accused some special police units of overreacting by unnecessarily shooting many of the animals. Some police officers were seen taking selfies with the bodies of tigers, lions and other large animals they had shot, posing like big-game hunters, two zoo staff told the Guardian. There has been controversy over the way the same special police unit reacted to the flooding at the zoo, with some workers saying that many animals were unnecessarily shot.
In one case, staff said a wolf they had successfully tranquilised and safely tethered was then shot by police as it lay on the ground. Only three of the zoo’s original 20 wolves survived. The government said its officers had done all they could to save the animals caught in the flood, but had to put the safety of Tbilisi residents first.
But there is now mounting alarm that at least two other big animals may still be on the loose in Tbilisi, four days after the flash flood.
On Tuesday, the head of the government’s crisis management council, Mindia Janelidze, was quoted as saying all the zoo animals had been accounted for. But the zoo itself released a later statement saying it was still missing a tiger, as well as a bear and a hyena.
“Is it safe or not? We don’t know what to believe,” said one Tbilisi resident, who lives near the city centre.
At the time the tiger attacked, hundreds of young volunteers were helping to clear up the extensive flood damage in residential areas and a popular city park near the zoo.
There’s been huge praise for the way people have rallied round to help, organising donations of clothing and other essentials as well as assisting with the clear-up effort.
But the crisis also shows signs of degenerating into a political fist-fight, with the current government and its predecessor both trying to blame the other for the disaster.