Tbilisi flooding: Big cats, bears still unaccounted for
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Three lions, two bears, a tiger, jaguar and wolf could still be roaming Tbilisi streets following the massive flooding that destroyed the zoo in the Georgian capital on Sunday morning.
Reportedly, one of the three lions was last seen on Khiliani St in Saburtalo overnight, not far from Tbilisi centre.
Meanwhile two Cuban crocodiles, reported missing after the deadly flood, were found alive on Tbilisi Zoo territory after water levels dropped today.
The crocodiles will be housed in temporary closures with other animals that survived the disaster in the upper part of the Zoo. The lower part of the facility where the bears, big cats and other large animals lived was completely destroyed.
The Zoo Administration confirmed at least 30 dangerous animals had either escaped or had died during Saturday night’s severe flood. Some of the missing animals included 20 wolves, eight lions, white tigers, tigers, hyenas, jaguars and seven bears.
In the past 24 hours most of the missing animals had been either euthanised or tranquilised, but some were still unaccounted for.
This did not necessarily mean they were on the loose, as they could have died in the disaster but efforts were still in place to locate the missing animals, officials said. More would be known when the Zoo territory was cleaned up of the debris.
To ensure public safety, officials are urging people in Tbilisi to remain indoors until the all wild animals are accounted for.
In the recent hours some have criticized authorities for killing animals instead of using tranquilisers. In response to this, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said: "I love animals too but when an animal is aggressive and poses a danger to a human, we are obliged to… follow the law.”
It’s not known yet how many of the Zoo’s animals survived but a Zoo spokesperson said most of them had died.
Click here to see In Pictures what Tbilisi Zoo looked like before the disaster.
Meanwhile the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo has offered Georgia a helping hand to search for the remaining animals and help Tbilisi rebuild its devastated zoo.
Officials from the Israeli zoo said they would gladly send a team to Tbilisi carrying special equipment to help their Georgian friends locate and catch the animals safely.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry said the Israeli experts would arrive in Tbilisi tomorrow.
Several wild animals remain on the loose and people in Tbilisi are being urged to remain indoors after a major flood in Tbilisi overnight.
A disaster is unfolding in Georgia's capital Tbilisi. Heavy rain is causing major damage in Tbilisi's Vake-Saburtalo district. Roads have been swamped, cars have been washed away and houses have been severely flooded. Several animals have also escaped from Tbilisi Zoo.
The Georgian Government will allocate 10 million GEL to Tbilisi City Hall to combat the damage caused by major flooding in the country’s capital overnight.
Georgia is mourning the loss of a dozen people who died in a major flash flood in capital city Tbilisi on Saturday night.
Solidarity is the best word to describe the situation in Tbilisi today as hundreds volunteered to help the affected families and clean the city’s streets after Saturday night’s deadly flood.
Rescuers are urging people in Tbilisi to refrain from driving in the capital city today as it hampered recovery works and road cleaning efforts.
Georgia’s Ministry of Environment Protection created a video which reconstructs the events of the terrible disaster of Saturday night.
Updated: 7.43pm: The bodies of two more victims of the Tbilisi flood have been found this evening, bringing the death toll to 19.
All rescue and cleaning works have been suspended in Tbilisi’s most affected district, as the weather is forecast to worsen this evening.
No wild animals are on the loose in the Georgian capital. All beasts that escaped from Tbilisi Zoo during the weekend’s flooding have been accounted for.
One man has been killed after he was attacked by a white tiger in central Tbilisi this afternoon. The special operation by police took three hours and resulted in the tiger being killed.
A criminal case has been filed for negligence following today’s deadly tiger attack in central Tbilisi.
Authorities have discovered the bodies of two more flood victims. This news comes five days after the natural disaster, bringing the total death toll to 21.
Search and rescue teams are continuing to search for one tiger and a striped hyena, and are urging people in Georgia's capital to remain vigilant and avoid dark and hidden places until the two animals are caught.
Updated: "Unusually large animal prints” seen in one of the villages in central Georgia that locals thought belonged to a big cat has turned out to be a dog's footprints.