RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – A jaguar featured at an Olympic torch ceremony was shot dead by a soldier shortly after the event in the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus as the animal escaped from its handlers, an army statement said.
The jaguar was killed on Monday at a zoo attached to a military training center where the Olympic torch ceremony was held. A soldier fired a single pistol shot when the escaped animal, despite being tranquilized, approached the soldier, the army said.
“We made a mistake in permitting the Olympic torch, a symbol of peace and unity, to be exhibited alongside a chained wild animal. This image goes against our beliefs and our values,” the local organizing committee Rio 2016 said in a statement.
“We guarantee that there will be no more such incidents at Rio 2016,” the committee added.
A cartoon smiling yellow jaguar known as Ginga is the mascot of the Brazilian Olympic team.
The jaguar is a near-threatened species that is already extinct in Uruguay and El Salvador, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.