German zoo recaptures escaped lions, tigers

Several animals managed to break out of a zoo near Lünebach on Friday, following a thunderstorm and flooding that eroded the fences of the enclosures in the hilly Eifel area, in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The animals included two lions, two tigers, a bear and a jaguar.

Hunters, firefighters, and police officers took part in a massive search effort after the escape, with authorities warning locals to stay indoors. The bear was shot dead during the search.

Drone search

The region was hit by severe storms in the early hours of the morning, flooding sections of the zoo. The flooding weakened the fences and made them "permeable" enough to allow the predators to escape, a police spokesperson said.

All of the big cats were recaptured hours later on Friday.

Authorities confirmed the animals were "in their enclosure" and officials were checking the damaged fences.

The privately owned Eifel zoo boasts about 60 different animal species and covers an area of 30 hectares (74 acres). According to the Trierischer Volksfreund daily, authorities used a drone to track the animals down while they were still on the zoo grounds.

The mayor of Arzfeld, Andreas Kruppert, later told reporters that the animals never actually left their enclosures.

ap,dj/aw (AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.