Another lion succumbs to COVID-19 at Chennai zoo, lioness had died earlier

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Chennai: In yet another tragedy at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park, near Chennai, a 12-year-old lion succumbed to COVID-19 on Wednesday (June 16) morning.

The authorities said that the lion had been under intensive treatment since it tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 on June 3. The samples of this lion had tested positive, as per the report from National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal.

Earlier, Neela, a 9-year old lioness that was housed in the zoo had died, a day after showing some nasal discharge. The authorities said that the lioness was provided treatment immediately after it showcased symptoms.

On June 4, the zoo had mentioned that nine of their eleven captive lions have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19.

It was on May 26 that five lions housed in the Animal House 1 of the Safari Park area of the zoo were reported to show loss of appetite (anorexia) and occasional coughing. Following this, an in-house veterinary team along with those from Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University(TANUVAS) took immediate action and offered treatment.

The big cats’ blood samples and nasal swabs were sent to TANUVAS. Rectal swab and fecal samples of the 11 lions were sent to NIHSAD, Bhopal, which is among the designated institutes to take up SARS COV-2 testing in captive animals. As per the test results, 9 of the 11 lions tested positive.

It was after lions tested positive that the forest officials carried out precautionary testing for captive elephants at the Theppakadu camp in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. However, all 28 elephants rested negative as per results from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Uttar Pradesh.