Amazon jaguar shot dead at Olympic torch ceremony

Jaguar Juma is pictured during the Olympic Flame torch relay in Manaus, Brazil, June 20, 2016. Picture taken June 20, 2016. REUTERS/Marcio Melo

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A jaguar featured at an Olympic torch ceremony was shot dead by a soldier shortly after the event in the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus as the animal escaped from its handlers, an army statement said.

The jaguar was killed on Monday at a zoo attached to a military training center where the Olympic torch ceremony was held. A soldier fired a single pistol shot when the escaped animal, despite being tranquilized, approached the soldier, the army said.