2 tigers recaptured after escaping Georgia safari park during tornado warning
By Michelle Watson and Zoe Sottile, CNN
Two tigers have been recaptured after escaping a Georgia safari park during a tornado warning Sunday morning, according to the park.
In a Facebook post, the Wild Animal Safari park in Pine Mountain wrote that it sustained “extensive tornado damage.”
No staff or animals were injured but “several animal enclosures” were breached and “two tigers briefly escaped,” said the park.
Since then, both big cats have been “found, tranquilized, and safely returned to a safe enclosure.”
Wild Animal Safari, a drive-through park, is home to over 75 species of animals housed on 250 acres of land, its website says. Tigers are included in the park’s “walkabout” section, where guests can observe animals in a more zoo-like environment, the website says.
In a Sunday morning Facebook post, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office said it received a report of a tiger “unaccounted” for inside the park in Pine Mountain, Georgia.
The park announced that it was closed for Sunday on Facebook. “We have sustained damage at the park and will not be open today,” the post said. “We are working diligently to keep our team and animals safe and will update with more news as it is available.”
The storm came after a tornado warning was issued for parts of Georgia, including southeastern Troup County.
Troup County authorities received reports of trees and power lines down after severe weather hit the area, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post Sunday morning.
“We are receiving MULTIPLE reports of trees down, damage on houses and power lines down,” the agency wrote. “If you do not have to get on the roads this morning please do not travel.”
The county is located about 70 miles southwest of Atlanta.
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CNN’s Keith Allen contributed to this report.
