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A policeman stands next to a white tiger killed by police in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze
Armed municipality workers search for a white tiger that escaped when floods destroyed its enclosure, in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
Armed municipality workers search for a white tiger that escaped when floods destroyed its enclosure, in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
Armed policemen run after police killed a white tiger that had escaped from its enclosure during flooding, in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
Armed policemen run after police killed a white tiger that had escaped from its enclosure during flooding, in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
An armed policeman walks after police killed a white tiger that had escaped from its enclosure during flooding, in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
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A tiger that broke loose after severe flooding at the Tbilisi Zoo mauled a man to death before being shot by police.
T he Interior Ministry in the former Soviet republic of Georgia said the tiger was hiding at an abandoned factory that had been turned into a construction market when he attacked the man. The victim later died of his wounds at a hospital.
An armed police officer walks near a Zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, Wednesday, June 17, 2015. Police in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia reported that a tiger that broke loose after severe flooding at the Tbilisi Zoo was hiding at an abandoned factory when it mauled a man to death Wednesday before being shot by police. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)
A zoo keeper walks past dead bears at the zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Armed policeman walks after police killed a white tiger that had escaped from its enclosure during flooding, in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
"We entered the depot and, suddenly, a white tiger rushed out of an adjacent room and attacked one of the workers, jumping at his throat and mauling him," colleague Alexander Shavbulashvili said.
"We broke the window of another room to flee, and the sound of breaking glass must have scared it and it ran away."
Zoo keepers drag a dead lion at the zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
A rhinoceros lies inside its enclosure at a zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
Police commandos rushed to the site and killed the tiger.
"It was a white tiger," Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said.
"We wanted to sedate it, but it was very aggressive and we had to liquidate it."
An earlier ministry claim that the tiger also wounded another man proved wrong.
Rescue workers watch a rhinoceros and donkeys inside their enclosure at a zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
Emergency Ministry officials drive a vehicle carrying a killed tiger, near a Zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, Wednesday, June 17, 2015. Police in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia reported that a tiger that broke loose after severe flooding at the Tbilisi Zoo was hiding at an abandoned factory when it mauled a man to death Wednesday, before being shot by police. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)
Zoo spokeswoman Khatia Basilashvili could not immediately offer any details about the dead tiger.
The Georgian government on Wednesday harshly criticized zoo officials for failing to provide reliable information.
On Tuesday, zoo officials said all eight lions, seven tigers and at least two of the zoo's three jaguars were killed in the flooding in Georgia's capital.
The flooding, triggered by torrential rains over the weekend, killed at least 19 people, destroyed houses and tore up roads. Six people remain missing.
An excavator removes a dead bear at the zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 17, 2015. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves were among more than 30 animals that escaped from a Georgian zoo and onto the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Sunday during floods that killed at least 12 people. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
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The zoo said on Wednesday that one of its 17 penguins was found alive by Georgian border guards in the Kura River near the border with Azerbaijan, 25 miles east of the capital. Eight other penguins had been found alive earlier.
Zoo officials say less than half of the zoo's 600 inhabitants have survived the flooding.
A tiger that killed a man after it escaped when floods hit a zoo in Georgia has been “liquidated” by a Special Forces unit.
All of the lions and tigers that went missing after severe flooding swamped the zoo in Georgia's capital have been found dead.
A tiger that broke loose after severe flooding at the Tbilisi Zoo mauled a man to death before being shot by police.
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