Animals thought to have escaped a zoo in western Germany – two lions, two tigers, and a jaguar – actually never left their enclosures, but zookeepers lost track of them due to flooding caused by a recent storm, a local mayor said yesterday.
A spokesman for the district of Bitburg-Pruem, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, said earlier in the day that the animals were on the loose after escaping from the Eifel Zoo in the municipality of Luenebach.
Andreas Kruppert, the mayor of nearby Arzfeld, later clarified that none of the animals actually escaped their enclosures, except a bear, which was shot dead after being discovered on one of the zoo’s public paths.
The kerfuffle came after a severe rainstorm caused the River Pruem, which runs alongside the edge of the zoo’s premises, to break its banks and flood the big cats’ enclosures.
Krupper said that after the flooding occurred overnight, local authorities had searched the animals’ enclosures with the help of an unmanned aircraft, but that the cats had not been detected.
Once the water receded several hours later, the cats were found.
The zoo is currently investigating whether any of the fencing around the enclosures has been damaged and whether the cats have to be relocated – either temporarily or permanently – to other zoos.
The bear managed to escape because part of the fencing around his enclosure was destroyed by water and debris, Krupper said.
During the hours that the animals were thought on the loose, local residents were told to stay indoors and to call the police if they saw the animals.
A large search operation was carried out, involving the fire services, the police and veterinarians.
The Eifel Zoo in Luenebach is located in the west of Rhineland-Palatinate, about 50km north of Trier.
Large predators are among the main attractions at the zoo, which is home to about 60 different species, including Siberian tigers and African lions, on about 30 hectares of land.
The zoo was opened in 1972 and is a private family business.