A zebra which ran away from a circus in Tessin, northeastern Germany has been shot dead on a highway by the police after causing traffic accidents and material damage. 

A press release by the Rostock District police on Wednesday confirmed the incident, saying two zebras had initially escaped from the circus in Tessin on Wednesday morning.

According to them,while one was safely captured, the other disappeared for several hours. It was spotted on a highway around 8.00 am, causing a traffic accident between two cars driving next to each other.

Although nobody, including the zebra was injured, the highway was temporarily closed. The zebra’s escape and wild run led to a large deployment of police. The police tweeted out a warning notifying drivers that a ‘runaway zebra’ was on the highway.

Authorities in the closed-off highway tried to subdue and capture the animal but it escaped and damaged a passenger car by running over the engine hood. A patrol car was also damaged, with a policeman slightly injured.

The zebra was next spotted on a field a short while later where the circus trainer who was responsible for it tried to subdue it  but also failed.

Finally, authorities were forced to call in the emergency animal rescue unit of the fire department and the zebra was shot near the town of Thelkow. It died on the spot.

Although the Police say the exact circumstances leading to the shooting were still being investigated, many people have commented on the Police tweet, asking why the zebra was not stunned instead of being shot dead.