Some Georgia zoo animals may still be at large: Authorities
Some zoo animals from Georgia that left their cages in a flood in the capital last week “may still be on the loose,” authorities say.
"Several animals may possibly be on the loose, but we need to complete a thorough inventory of dead and survived animals to know for sure," Tbilisi Zoo spokeswoman, Mzia Sharashidze, told AFP on Thursday.
The flooding began after heavy rains caused the River Vere to burst its banks on Sunday.
The floods killed 19 people, including three zoo workers in Tbilisi.
More than half of the zoo's 600 animals either drowned in the muddy waters or were later killed by police after they were roaming free.
Lions, bears, wolves, tigers, crocodiles and a hippopotamus were among the animals that managed to escape the flood when rainwater rose to the rooftops of the city’s zoo enclosures.
A white tiger that escaped from the zoo mauled a man to death in central Tbilisi before being shot dead by law enforcement officers on Wednesday.
Just two days before the tiger attack, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said all the animals which were swept from the zoo had been put down or captured.
Garibashvili, however, later apologized "for giving wrong information" on the status of the animals that managed to run away from the zoo.
Animal rights activists are demanding an investigation into the killings of animals by police.
According to them, some of the animals shot dead by police could have been spared.
Police, meanwhile, continue their city-wide hunt for the potentially missing animals in Tbilisi.
According to the Georgian government, rebuilding the damaged roads and infrastructure could cost the government up to $45 million.
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