Over 100 animals from China zoo flee enclosures amid devastating typhoon floods
2026-07-09 15:35:41Beijing, China –At least 100animals – including alpacas, miniature pigs and zebras – escaped azooin southernChina's Guangxi region afterfloodsdamaged their enclosures. Severe flooding has. . .
2026-07-09 15:35:41Beijing, China –At least 100animals – including alpacas, miniature pigs and zebras – escaped azooin southernChina's Guangxi region afterfloodsdamaged their enclosures. Severe flooding has caused zoo animals to escape and reservoirs to collapse in China’s southwest Guangxi region. © GREG BAKER / AFPTyphoon Maysak has ravaged southern and central China this week, killing 39 people in Guangxi and forcing the evacuation of 130,000. The province's Guigang Zoo asked the public Wednesday for help in finding its escaped animals, saying some enclosures had been damaged by "continuous heavy rainfall. "It provided a list of missing creatures, including "two North American raccoons, four porcupines, and thirty peacocks," per a statement posted by a local district's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau. The zoo said that some of the escapees "may be frightened and potentially aggressive. ""If you spot any of the animals, please keep a safe distance," the statement said. "Do not attempt to catch, approach or tease them, as this could be dangerous," the zoo warned. Meanwhile, videos of villagers knee-deep in floodwater and frantically trying to catch snakes swimming in a flooded Guangxi town with their bare hands and nets went viral on social media this week. Wu Zhi, the head of a local village committee, told state-owned media Red Star News that around 800 to 900 snakes escaped on Monday after a breeding farm was washed away in Hengzhou city. The city "immediately bolstered its reserves of medical resources and urgently expanded the stock of anti-venom" at the local hospital, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Cover photo: GREG BAKER / AFPMore onZoos:Seal sees twins for the first time – and his intense reaction is priceless!San Antonio Zoo welcomes tiny baby falcon the size of a coin: "such a little cotton ball"Spider monkey broke his arm, but the "treatment" is shocking