Covid hits animals? Leopard dies in Vandalur Zoo after recovery

An 18-year-old female leopard and a lion named Vishnu (5) died in a squeeze cage and of low appetite at Arignar Anna Zoological Park (Vandalur Zoo) on Monday evening.

At least 70 workers at the zoo were tested positive for Covid on Saturday, and as precaution, samples were taken from the animals.

“When attempting to take a nasal swab, the leopard was kept in the cage where it died due to breathing issues. the animal was feeding quite normally and did not have any covid-related symptoms but suddenly died today. usually, the leopard lives only up to 15 years, so we think it died as it was aged. the body has been sent for postmortem at zoo veterinary hospital, and waiting for the result,” said a senior official at Vandalur zoo.

The 18-year-old female leopard, Jaya, was recused from the Annamalai tiger reserve and came to Vandalur Zoo 13 years back on Saturday and the five-year-old Covid recovered lion, Vishnu, died at the zoo due to a loss of appetite for a day due to an issue in the food pipe.

However, the lion did not have any Covid-related symptoms this time. 

The samples of the lion for SARS Cov-2 and bacterial infection have been sent to Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (tanuvas).

“The result of Vishnu's test result is expected to be out in a week. Meanwhile, other animals are doing well, but as a precautionary measure samples of around 16 animals were taken and sent to the national institute of high-security animal diseases (nihsad), Bhopal,” said the official.

During the second wave of Covid, two lions died of sars Cov-2 and the zoo has lost 14 ostriches, three tigers, and three lions.