- Two zebras fled from a circus in northern Germany on Tuesday night, according to Deutsche Welle, causing traffic chaos.
- One was captured safely and returned to the circus, but the other was shot dead by police after running onto a highway.
- The escaped zebra running onto the highway eventually led to an accident between two vehicles on the A20 motorway on Wednesday morning.
- After failing to capture the zebra, police near the city of Rostock shot the animal dead.
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A zebra that ran away from a circus in Germany fled onto a highway and caused a traffic accident before it was shot dead by police on Wednesday.
After causing chaos on the A20 highway near the northern city of Rostock, police ultimately decided to shoot the zebra dead after both officials and a circus tamer could not capture it alive, according to the BBC.
According to German news site Deutsche Welle, the zebra caused a collision when one car braked to avoid hitting it, causing the car behind to crash into it.
"The animal was going the wrong way on the autobahn from Tessin to Rostock," a police spokesperson told Deutsche Welle.
Read more: A woman climbed into the lion enclosure at a New york zoo, then posted videos of it on Instagram
The photograph below was taken from the scene and depicts the damage caused to one of the cars in the accident.
No one was injured in the crash, police said, according to CNN.
Read more: 2 bears had a fight in the middle of a Canadian highway while a wolf watched in the distance.
The incident also caused traffic disruptions, leading to the closure of the A20 motorway for some time, and long tailbacks.
A second zebra also escaped but was captured safely by police and returned to the circus.
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