Deadly animals on the loose after Georgia floods

Tbilisi

The capital of Georgia has been placed on lockdown after heavy flooding destroyed enclosures at the city's zoo allowing tigers, lions, jaguars, wolves, jackals and a hippo to escape and roam the streets.

Residents in Tbilisi have been warned to stay indoors after more than 30 dangerous animals became free from the zoo after heavy rain and wind. 

Police and soldiers were hunting down the animals, recapturing some and shooting others dead, while rescuers airlifted scores of people trapped by the floods.

The flash floods have also already killed up to 12 people, including three workers who are employed at Tbilisi Zoo.

The zoo said one of the dead was Guliko Chitadze, a zookeeper who lost an arm in an attack by a tiger last month. The husband of zookeeper Ms Chitadze also died in the flooding.

 Eight bears, six tigers, six lions and 20 wolves are among dozens of animals to escape the zoo.

 It has also been reported that six wolves were killed after they were found near to a children's hospital and a video showed locals trying to save an escaped bear.

Tbilisi Zoo spokeswoman Mzia Sharashidze said: 'Search for animals continues, but a large part of the zoo is simply non-existent. It was turned into a hellish whirlpool.

“Some 20 wolves, eight lions, white tigers, tigers, jackals, jaguars have either been shot dead by special forces or are missing. Only three out of our 17 penguins were saved,” she added.

Pictures from the Georgian capital have shown a large hippo wandering along a main street among stranded cars and in the city's main square.

The zoo's press service said the hippo was eventually cornered in the main square before it was subdued with a tranquiliser gun.

Heavy rains and wind hit Tbilisi last night, turning a normally small stream that runs through the hilly city into a surging river. The flooding also damaged dozens of houses.

It is estimated that the floods have caused £6.5million worth of damage.

Vice mayor of Tbilisi Irakly Lekvinadze said, “Dozens of families remain homeless as their houses were destroyed or damaged in the capital.”