There has been uproar amongst animal rights activists after a jaguar that was featured in an Olympic torch ceremony in Brazil was shot soon after the event, Reuters is reporting.
Ironically a jaguar is the symbol of the Brazilian national team in the Olympics.
After the ceremony the jaguar, named 'Juma', escaped her handlers and when tranquilizer darts failed to halt her progress she turned on veterinarian and was shot by soldiers.
The Rio organising committee admitted that they had "made a mistake in permitting the Olympic torch, a symbol of peace and unity, to be exhibited alongside a chained wild animal" and promised that "there will be no more such incidents" in the build-up to the Games.
There was heavy criticism of the shambles on social media following the event.
This cruel and needless act sums up everything wrong with the #Rio Games. https://t.co/TodZtBHvPy #TenNews pic.twitter.com/WpOMVAMZvV
— Sandra Sully 📺🎧📲🏑🌺 (@Sandra_Sully) June 22, 2016
Not much in the way of Olympic legacy for this poor jaguar...https://t.co/C5qbMX3dGJ
— Owen Gibson (@owen_g) June 22, 2016
Brazil just shot + killed their own mascot. The Olympics are off to a great start. #RIPJuma https://t.co/d5ux15QRbL
— Lauren Sivan (@LaurenSivan) June 22, 2016
A statement from animal rights group PETA asked the question, "When will people learn?" and said that "wild animals held captive and forced to do things that are frightening, sometimes painful, and always unnatural are ticking time bombs". The organisation denounced the mistreatment of the jaguar for "human amusement".
This is more bad publicity for the Rio Olympics to go alongside concerns about the Zika virus (that have caused golfer Rory McIlroy and others to pull out of the event) and worries about the political instability and infrastructure of a country that has never recovered from the strain of hosting the World Cup in 2014.
