Flood Sweeps Away 100 Animals at South China Zoo, Killing 3 Lions

More than 100 animals were swept away and three lions died after floodwaters inundated a private zoo in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Red Star News reported today.

Staff at Guigang Zoo locked lions, wolves, bears and other dangerous animals inside their enclosures as water rose early on July 7, fearing they could escape and attack people in surrounding communities.

"We could not create more trouble during the flood by allowing dangerous animals to escape and hurt people," zoo manager Yin Feifei told the Red Star News.

The decision kept the dangerous animals from escaping, but three lions died in their cages. More than 20 species were swept away, and only one sika deer had been recovered by yesterday afternoon, Yin said.

The missing animals included two zebras, nine other sika deer, five argali sheep, 13 goats, two ostriches, two emus, three alpacas, one Bactrian camel, three ponies, two donkeys, 30 peacocks and dozens of parrots. Raccoons, porcupines, nutria, turkeys, pheasants and macaws were also missing.

Typhoon Maysak has unleashed record rainfall and caused severe flooding across Guangxi.

Yin said the water inside the zoo was already 50 centimeters deep when he woke at 3:30am on July 7.

He and six employees inspected the grounds and moved dangerous animals into locked enclosures. By 5am, the water had risen to 1.2 meters.

Yin said the group became trapped as the water surged above 2 meters within about an hour. They climbed onto a shipping container before armed police and firefighters arrived.

"If they had come half an hour later, we might have been swept away," he said.

Yin began searching for missing animals yesterday. He estimated the flood caused more than 4 million yuan (US$588.80) in losses, including damaged infrastructure and animals that were killed or swept away.