

Tigers, lions, wolves and bears are feared to be still on the loose in Georgia’s capital, amid chaotic scenes brought by devastating floods that have reportedly killed 12 people.



Images of an escaped hippopotamus being cornered in one of Tbilisi’s main squares after escaping from the city’s zoo have emerged, while other animals have been killed or remain at large.

Ian Sherwood (@IanJSherwood) Extraordinary images out of #Tbilisi after flooding tigers, lions, bears and wolves have escaped from the city's zoo. pic.twitter.com/f6Y7ISa4Oh

Heavy rainfall turned the Vere river – which flows through the capital – into a torrent that swept away dozens of buildings and cars. At least 12 people have been killed, according to news agencies, while others are missing. The army has been mobilised to help.

“The damage is substantial,” the prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, told reporters. He also called on residents to stay at home as the search for the animals continued.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A stranded bear stands on the second-story windowsill of a house in Tbilisi. Photograph: Beso Gulashvili/EPA

Carcasses of wild animals that have been shot dead litter the streets and tangled heaps of wreckage scar a large area around Tbilisi’s zoo after Saturday night’s flash flood.

The zoo itself has been almost totally destroyed, says its director, with most of its animals either drowned or shot after escaping. “It’s an unbelievable tragedy,” said Zura Gurielidze as he surveyed his stricken zoo park.

Three of his staff were among those reported dead in the disaster. Among them was 56-year-old Guliko Chitadze, who was attacked by one of the zoo’s tigers last month and lost an arm. She had just returned to work, telling fellow staff she did not blame the tiger for what happened. She lived in the zoo grounds with her husband, who died with her.

The escaped hippo was cornered in one of the city’s main squares on Sunday and subdued with a tranquilliser gun, the zoo said. Some other animals also have been seized, but it remained unclear how many were still on the loose.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A man directs a hippopotamus after it was shot with a tranquilizer dart. Photograph: Beso Gulashvili/Reuters

Facebook Twitter Pinterest People help move the hippopotamus to safety Photograph: Tinatin Kiguradze/AP

Police with rifles were still combing the tree-covered hills above the zoo looking for the escaped animals as the remains of a hyena shot dead lay in the nearby grounds of Tbilisi State University. It had chased one of the staff, according to a police officer, who then locked himself in a shed and called for help.

There are also reports of people using their hunting rifles to shoot animals they see, and Gurielidze appealed for them not to, in case they could be saved. There were no immediate reports that any of the other fatalities were due to animal attacks.

Among the biggest tragedies for the zoo is the loss of a rare white lion called Shumba. It had become one of the zoo’s biggest attractions after they paired it with a dog to keep it company, after Shumba’s mother stopped caring for him. They became friends and could be seen playing and sleeping together right outside the zoo’s main offices.



Images on Tbilisi city hall’s Facebook page showed roads submerged by floodwater and landslides with many vehicles washed away, while rescue workers carried people on their shoulders through waist-high water. Such heavy rain is unusual for this time of year. But many say uncontrolled development in the area made things worse, with the drainage system overwhelmed. The zoo, situated at the bottom of a valley in the city, was right in the target of line of the surge of water that resulted.



The head of Georgia’s Orthodox church, Patriarch Ilia II, said the flood was punishment for the zoo being built by the country’s former communist rulers. “They ordered that all the crosses and bells in churches be melted down and the money used to build the zoo,” he said. “I am very sorry that Georgians fell so that a zoo was built at the expense of destroyed churches.”