Thumbnail image via Flickr users Eric Kilby and Daniel
Earlier this week, a jaguar named Juma was paraded out for a photo op during an Olympic torch passing ceremony in Brazil's Amazon. The jaguar is a symbol of the Amazon, so it seemed natural to have one present while men passed a flaming stick back-and-forth.After the event, though, Juma was taken back to a zoo inside a military base, where she escaped her handlers. They promptly lit the 17-year-old up with four tranquilizer darts, but when she started moving toward a vet, Brazilian soldiers shot and killed the animal.TheNew York Times reports that news of Juma's killing was met with uproar from animal lovers around the world, and PETA released a statement saying that "wild animals held captive and forced to do things that are frightening, sometimes painful, and always unnatural are ticking time bombs—captivity puts animal and human lives at risk."In response to the public outcry, the Olympic games committee said it was "saddened by the outcome" and apologized for allowing "the Olympic torch, symbol of peace and unity among peoples, to be displayed next to a chained wild animal."The 2016 Summer Olympics is scheduled to begin this August in Rio, preferably without any more exotic animal casualties.Read: An Expert Explains What Happens to Gorillas After They Die in Zoos