The nine-year-old Asiatic lion Neela has died from the coronavirus in the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in India. The park said she died Thursday evening.
The outbreak was first observed on Thursday, with most of the lions asymptomatic, the state-run zoo in Chennai said. They were quarantined and given antibiotics. “Samples of tigers and other large mammals are being sent for testing,” the zoo’s said in a statement.
There have been various coronavirus cases of animals in zoos. In May, eight Asiatic lions at the Nehru Zoological Park in India tested positive for the coronavirus.
In February, two 11-week-old white tiger cubs probably died of COVID-19 at the Lahore zoo in Pakistan. An autopsy found that the lungs of the cubs were badly damaged, and they were suffering from a severe infection.
A group of gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in the United States recovered from an outbreak of COVID-19 in January.
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