WARNING: POTENTIALLY DISTRESSING IMAGES
A zebra has been shot dead by police after it ran away from a circus and caused an accident on a motorway in Germany earlier today.
Two of the striped animals escaped last night and were chased by police close to Thelkow, east Germany. One was caught and returned to the circus but the other was killed by police following the motorway collision.
The zebra caused an accident on the A20 motorway but the MailOnline reports that there were no injuries from the crash.
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Pictures show officers with a tranquilliser gun in an attempt to get closer to the animal in a field.
Eventually they shot the zebra and it died at the side of the road.
A police spokesman told DW: "The animal was going in the wrong direction on the autobahn from Tessin to Rostock," while a highway warning was tweeted explaining: "Warning: escaped zebra in the Tessin/Sanitz area is disrupting traffic."
Earlier last month, a Siberian tiger scaled a high circus cage, leaving a crowd screaming and running from their seats.
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Video footage of the incident shows a handler directing the tiger to the side of the cage when the big cat suddenly leaps and begins climbing upwards.
Audience members then immediately jump from their seats and begin screaming 'run!' as the cat appears to escape.
The tiger was found in a cornfield the following day and successfully tranquillised 12 hours after its escape. The seemingly unconscious animal was hauled out of the field behind a tractor.
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Now two organisers have been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation - the tiger was successfully recaptured but died while being transported to a local zoo.
The authorities said the young cat was seized from the circus, along with a second tiger and a lion, and transferred to Xinxiang Zoo for safekeeping.
However, the zoo claimed the tranquillised tiger was found dead on arrival. A zookeeper named Feng told Chinese media: "It wasn't even breathing, so we didn't attempt any sort of treatment. We've kept the carcass in a freezer and are waiting for a vet to perform an examination."
Feng revealed the tiger had been hit by a car during its escape, and may have suffered internal injuries as a result, but county officials said further investigations are now pending an official necropsy. It is not clear when the procedure was scheduled.
Topics: News, Germany, Animals