A sculpture of hippopotamus Begi, who escaped the Tbilisi Zoo during the June 13, 2015 flood in Tbilisi, has been unveiled in Mziuri Park.

Commissioned from contemporary Georgian sculptor Erekle Tsuladze, the stainless steel monument has been produced using “modern technology”, and comes following a competition for a sketch of the sculpture, announced in 2019.

The winning sketch was selected by a 12-member commission set up by the state body, and commemorates the hippopotamus that gained recognition from photographs of the flood published by international media.