A runaway zebra has been shot dead after it fled onto a motorway in Germany.
Two zebras escaped from a circus near the village of Thelkow, east Germany last night, and were spotted earlier today.
The pair were chased by police and one of them was caught and returned to the circus, German news site DW reported.
But the other was eventually shot dead by officers after it caused a motorway collision.
Photos show a man with a tranquilliser gun approaching the animal in a field before it sprinted past a police car on the A20 motorway.
One car braked to avoid the fugitive zebra, causing another to crash into it.
No one was injured but cars were backed up while police cleared the site and attempted to coax the zebra to safety, according to DW.
Officers tried to catch it over several hours, but when their efforts proved unsuccessful, they shot it.
A police spokesman told DW: “The animal was going in the wrong direction on the autobahn from Tessin to Rostock.”
The Rostock police also tweeted while the zebra was still at large: “Warning: escaped zebra in the Tessin/Sanitz area is disrupting traffic.”
It is not known how the four-legged escapees broke out of the circus. The motorway is now operating normally again.
