Officers from a zoo in north-east Nigeria have confirmed that some wild animals had escaped from captivity after flooding hit Borno state.
Movies of among the creatures on the streets of the state capital, Maiduguri, have been broadly shared on social media.
Ali Donbest, who runs the Sanda Kyarimi Zoo, advised the BBC that he doesn’t know precisely what number of animals are free however a hunt is on to find them. One ostrich has been discovered however he suggested residents to watch out.
Native media are reporting that Maiduguri is experiencing flooding on a scale that has not been seen for 3 many years with many compelled to go away their houses.
Mr Donbest mentioned that there had been some success to find a few of people who had escaped.
“We’ve been in a position to recapture the ostrich seen on the road and we additionally received a name {that a} crocodile had been present in one other location however we can not get there as a result of floods,” he mentioned.
He additionally mentioned the cages the place the lions and hyenas have been stored had been submerged by floodwaters however can not inform if they’d escaped.
The zoo boss defined that the flood had broken a few of its partitions enabling the animals to roam free.
Nonetheless, not all of the creatures noticed on the streets could also be from the zoo.
“We received a report {that a} hippo was seen someplace and we do not have hippos within the zoo, so the waters may also disperse animals from different areas too,” he mentioned.
Maiduguri resident Ishaq Sani advised the BBC his greatest concern in the meanwhile is to return throughout a wild animal.
He deserted his dwelling as a result of floods and is now staying with a buddy in one other location.
To date. there haven’t been any studies of animals attacking people.
That is the newest incident in a sequence of floods which have hit Nigeria just lately. Greater than 170 folks have died and tens of hundreds have been compelled from their houses throughout the nation, Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Administration Company has mentioned.