A 12-year-old lion died of Covid-19 at Arignar Anna Zoological Park at Vandalur in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday morning.
A male named Pathbanathan, is the second lion to die due to the infection at the zoo. The first was a nine-year old lioness named Neela which died in the evening on June 3, PTI reported.
The male lion tested positive for SARS Cov-2, as per the report of the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal on June 3.
Samples were collected from Pathbanathan after five lions in the zoo showed symptoms such as coughing and loss of appetite.
An official release from AAZP said the animal, housed in the lion safari area, was under intensive treatment since then and died around 10.15 am on Wednesday,
At present, the zoo houses 10 more infected lions, being treated by an in-house veterinary team in coordination with an expert team from Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences (Tanuvas) University.
"Two lionesses — 19-year old Bhuavana and 23-year-old Kavitha — which were critical last week have started to respond to treatment and are taking food properly now. All other infected lions too are under close observation to ensure they recover soon," said an AAZP official.
Zoo authorities said they were taking all precautionary measures to protect the infected lions and to prevent further spread of the virus to other animals. The zoo had introduced thermal scanning and ultra violet irradiation of the beef that was fed to the big cats. Zoo workers were administered vaccines for the infection.
Periodic sanitisation of the animal enclosures had been taken up and the workers were provided with PPE kits while entering the enclosures.