Chennai: One lion died of COVID-19 and 9 other lions have tested positive for the virus at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur. “The lion housed at the safari area of the zoological park died on Thursday evening at 6.15 PM. The deceased animal had been asymptomatic and showed some nasal discharge only the day before and had been symptomatically treated immediately,” the Zoo said in a press release on Friday.
The zoo authorities on May 26 had said that five lions housed in the safari park area were reportedly showing anorexia (loss of appetite) and occasional coughing. However, the in-house veterinary team of the zoo took immediate action to investigate and treat the animals.
However, to further verify, if it was a case of false positive or the animal died of other complications, samples were sent to Research facilities in Bareilly and Hyderabad.
In the wake of the COVID pandemic, the zoo has been following all the precautionary measures prescribed by the Central Zoo Authority, the central and state governments from time to time.
As per the latest updates, the lions which have tested positive are under close observation and on a prescribed treatments by the in-house veterinary team in close co-ordination with the expert team from TANUVAS.