The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church blamed the floods on the 'sin' of Communists who he said built the zoo using money raised from destroying churches and melting down their bells.
Patriarch Ilia II said in his Sunday sermon: 'When the Communists occupied Georgia, and started repressions against Christians and the clergy and the destruction of churches and monasteries, they ordered church bells to be melted, the metal sold and a zoo to be built with that money.
'It must be relocated to a different place. A sin never remains without punishment.'