Tamil Nadu: 9 Lions Test Positive For Covid-19 At Chennai Zoo, Lioness Dies | Know All About It

A lioness named Neela, aged 9 years, housed in Animal House number 2 at the Safari area of this Zoological park died on May 3 at around 6.15 pm. The officials informed that she had been asymptomatic and showed some nasal discharge only the day before and had been symptomatically treated immediately.

Chennai: A total of 9 lions have tested positive for Covid-19 in Arignar Anna Zoological Park also known as Vandalur Zoo situated near Chennai. A lioness named Neela is revealed to have died yesterday. 

On May 26, 5 lions housed in Animal House 1 of the Safari Park area were reported to show anorexia (loss of appetite) and occasional coughing. The in-house veterinary team of this room took immediate action to investigate and treat the animals as per protocol, the officials at Vandalur Zoo informed through a statement.

"After this, a team of experts was deputed by TANUVAS to join the veterinarians of AAZP in investigating and deciding the further course of the treatment regimen," the official statement read.

Blood samples were sent to TANUVAS and nasal swab, rectal swab, and fecal samples of 11 lions were sent to the National Institute of Higher Security Diseases, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh "which is one of the four designated institutes authorised to take up SARS CoV-2 testing in captive animals," it added.

A lioness named Neela, aged 9 years, housed in Animal House number 2 at the Safari area of this Zoological park died on May 3 at around 6.15 pm. The officials informed that she had been asymptomatic and showed some nasal discharge only the day before and had been symptomatically treated immediately.

"As per the laboratory test results furnished by the institute, samples in respect of 9 lions out of the 11 sent, have tested positive for SARS CoV-2," the statement issued by Vandalur Zoo informed.

In order to ascertain whether or not the reported findings are in the nature of false positives or the animal could have died of comorbidities, samples have also been sent on 4.6.2021 to the Indian veterinary research institute Bareilly and the Centre for cellular and molecular biology, Hyderabad, it added.

The officials have informed that the park has been "scrupulously" sanitised following the precautionary measures prescribed in various advisories issued by the central zoo authority the central and the state government from time to time.

All the lions which have tested positive are under close observation and on the prescribed treatment regimen by the in-house veterinary team in close coordination with the expert team from TANUVAS.

As for the caretakers, all animal keepers and helpers for these animal houses are vaccinated against Covid-19. Besides this, separate sets of animal keepers are engaged for each group of lions. PPE kids are mandatory for the animal keepers, veterinary doctors, and field staff visiting the area, the Zoo authorities added.