Jaguar shot dead after Olympic torch ceremony in Brazil

A jaguar featured at an Olympic torch ceremony was shot dead by a soldier shortly after the event, as the animal escaped from its handlers. The jaguar named Juma, the actual model of Ginga, the mascot of Brazil team for this year's Rio de Janeiro Olympics, escaped from a military training center in the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus in northeast Brazil on Monday before it was shot, reported Reuters and other media Tuesday.

Sources of the event said the 17-year-old jaguar was obedient and familiar around people as it lived in a zoo near the center, but turned upset as it was surrounded by strangers at the Olympic torch relay. As Juma escaped from his leash while the event was coming to an end, Juma fled into the zoo maintained by the center. The zookeeper shot a tranquilizer gun to calm it down but it attacked the zookeeper and the soldier had to shoot the jaguar.

The shooting caused uproar among animal rights groups. In Brazil, the Rio de Janeiro-based animal rights group Animal Freedom Union said, "When will people (and institutions) stop with this sick need to show power and control by confining, taming and showcasing wild animals?"

The latest incident follows the recent killing of a gorilla at a Cincinnati zoo and alligators at Walt Disney World in Orlando and raised questions by many why the animal was involved in the Olympic event, pointing to an evidence of flawed policy towards wild animals.

This raises further concerns since the number of jaguars that mainly live in the American continent have declined by 30 percent in species type since the 1980s. They are one of the endangered animal species designated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Increased concerns caused the Brazilian authorities to apologize and take action. "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," Rio de Janeiro's local Olympics organizing committee said in a statement. Some people in Brazil expressed concerns that the incident is an ominous sign.

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