The jaguar and the Olympic torch CREDIT: AFP

A jaguar trotted out for the Olympic torch's passage through Brazil's Amazon was killed shortly afterward when it escaped its handlers and threatened a vet, the Brazilian military said on Tuesday.

The feline - whose species is the symbol of the Amazon - was shot dead in the northern city of Manaus on Monday soon after it was photographed with the torch passing by. An attempt to use tranquilizer darts on it failed.

"It escaped and ran off as it was being moved from one area to another in the zoo," said Colonel Luiz Gustavo Evelyn, whose unit is deployed in the region.....

Jaguar used in Olympic torch event killed in Brazil