An 11-year-old lion infected with Covid-19 at the Dehiwala Zoo in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo has been recovering, wildlife officials said while reports of four lions in Chennai zoo surfaced on Monday.
According to the Department of National Zoological Gardens in Sri Lanka, the lion named "Thor" tested positive for Covid after being ill for nearly three days last week.
In a statement on Sunday, Director-General of the Department Ishini Wickremesinghe said Thor had been suffering from breathing difficulties and loss of appetite since last week.
Quoted in local media reports, Wickremesinghe said the lion was first subjected to a rapid antigen test which turned out to be negative before a PCR test was carried out.
Wickremesinghe said Thor is currently under medical care in isolation and necessary measures have been taken to prevent the other animals and staff members from contracting the virus.
Thor's keepers have been directed to quarantine for two weeks. According to authorities, all members of the Dehiwala Zoo were subject to a PCR test on June 18.
4 lions in Chennai zoo with Covid-19
Meanwhile, four lions at Arignar Anna Zoological Park or popularly known as Vandalur Zoo are suffering from the contagious Delta variant of coronavirus. The Zoo officials had sent samples of 11 lions to the ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal.
On its part, NIHSAD had said nine lions tested positive for SARS CoV-2. The animals were under active treatment. The Vandalur Zoo had requested NIHSAD to share the results of genome sequencing of the SARS CoV-2 virus that has infected the lions.
According to NIHSAD, the genome sequencing of four samples belong to Pangolin lineage B.1.617.2 and are Delta variants as per World Health Organisation (WHO) nomenclature.
On May 11, the WHO had classified B.1.617.2 lineage as a variant of concern (VOC), and said that it showed evidence of higher transmissibility and reduced neutralization, the Zoo said.
Meanwhile the Tamil Nadu government has constituted a State Level Task Force to provide support and guidance to authorities about the prevention and mitigation of Covid-19 infections in wild and captive animals in the Tiger Reserves, NationalParks, Wildlife Sanctuaries Reserve Forests and others.
The State Level Task Force will be headed by Supriya Sahu, Principal Secretary to Government, Environment, Climate Change & Forests Department and will have six members.
