Three months after animals ran amok after a deadly flood washed over Tbilisi in Georgia, the zoo reopened to visitors on Sunday.
Devastating flooding in central parts of Tbilisi June 13 and June 14 claimed 19 lives including three zoo employees. Three people remain missing from the disaster.
The flood destroyed sections of the zoo where wild animals were kept but areas on higher ground remained mostly untouched by the flood.
Of more than 1,000 animals of different species, the zoo lost 277 animals; some were killed by the police, including a white tiger, which was on the loose and which attacked and killed a man in Tbilisi center not far from the zoo on June 17.
Director of the Tbilisi zoo, Zurab Gurielidze, said that about 150 animals will be received by the zoo with the help from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) by the spring of next year.
The zoo will remain at its current location before the new one is built in Tbilisi outskirts.
An area of 48 hectares has been allocated at a reservoir, known as Tbilisi Sea, to house the new zoo, construction of which is expected to be over in three years.
h/t: Tbilisi city hall release
Photo credit: Reddit
