Residents warned to stay inside as escaped Ukraine zoo tiger spotted in Slovakia

A tiger thought to have escaped a private zoo in Ukraine has been spotted across the border near three towns in neighbouring Slovakia.

Authorities are warning eastern Slovakia residents to be cautious after the tiger was captured in photographs across the border.

Police and local authorities in the Slovakian town of Ulic told citizens on Sunday to limit their outdoors movements.

Officers said they were informed by Ukrainian counterparts that a tiger had escaped from a local zoo in Ukraine and may be found on the country's neighbouring border.

"Residents are urged to exercise caution and for your own safety do not take any risky steps," authorities said in a post on Facebook.

On Monday, Slovakia’s Environment Ministry said there had been no new sightings of the animal.

On Sunday, the Poloniny national park said photo traps had registered the animal’s presence near three Slovakian towns.

The park said in a statement that the young tiger escaped from a private breeder in the Ukrainian town of Strychava, just on the other side of the border.

Park director Miroslav Bural told the Slovak Tasr news agency the tiger was originally in an unspecified zoo in eastern Ukraine, but had been transported to the west of the country due to Russia's invasion.

The tiger isn't the first animal to have recently escaped from a zoo in Ukraine.

Videos posted on social media on Tuesday showed an escaped chimpanzee walking around Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine while zoo employees were seen trying to convince the chimpanzee to return.

The chimpanzee was filmed running to a zoo employee for a jacket when it began to rain, before reportedly being safely returned to its enclosure.

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