Haifa zoo locks up animals to stop them escaping

HAIFA, Israel, July 19 (Reuters) Staff at Israel's Haifa zoo have locked the lions and tigers in bomb proof cages to stop them escaping if there is a hit from a Hizbollah missile.

''If a rocket hits the open-air pen and one of the carnivores escapes into the city, it would not be a nice prospect,'' said head keeper Yoav Ratner. ''Thankfully the night rooms are secure -- they are like bomb shelters.'' Since the crisis with Hizbollah erupted a week ago when the group seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border raid, the guerrillas have rained scores of rockets on Haifa, Israel's third largest city.

A Hizbollah rocket killed eight people in Haifa on Sunday.

Israeli air raids in response have killed 230 people in Lebanon, all but 26 of them civilians.

Haifa zoo's leopards and bears had also been placed in their night cages, zoo keepers said. Other animals such as eagles and gazelles remained in open pens. Like much of the city, the zoo has been shut for days.

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