Last week two white tiger cubs died at Lahore Zoo. Now it’s being speculated that the endangered animals might have died due to Coronavirus.
Geo English reports that according to autopsy report the cubs had a punctured lung while the right was filled with fluid due to an infection. Report shows the windpipes of the cubs were severely infected. Additionally the cubs had inflammation in their intestines as well. Even their hearts had bloodstains, showing that they had suffered a hemorrhage.
However, University of Veterinary Sciences did not carry out a COVID-19 test. Additionally, the autopsy report said that the University of Veterinary Sciences’s pathology department did not obtain a sample to test the dead cubs for Coronavirus.
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Sources said that six employees at the zoo had also contracted COVID-19. Previous when tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo in New York were found to have contracted ‘SARS-CoV-2’, it was suggested that while animals can contract the virus from humans, contact spread of the virus from felines is unlikely.
Given the virus is zoonotic, of animal origin, the first human case is hypothesized to have emerged from consumption of animal flesh. At the time the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said;
“is aware of a very small number of pets, including dogs and cats, outside the United States reported to be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 after close contact with people with COVID-19. CDC has not received any reports of pets becoming sick with COVID-19 in the United States. To date, there is no evidence that pets can spread the virus to people.”
COVID-19 or Neglect?
Lahore Zoo Director Chaudhry Shafqat, claimed that the cubs died because mother tiger was not taking care of them. He said that the female white tiger in captivity at the zoo had given birth to three cubs, one of which had died right away due to weakness. The remaining two cubs of an endangered species died on February 4, 2021.
“The remaining two cubs were sick for the past two months and died on February 4,” Chaudhry Shafqat had said.
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It is noteworthy that neglect of animals in the custody of Lahore Zoo is no new occurrence. Previously, the facility was bashed for keeping a bear hungry and thirsty. There was another instance back in 2018, two giraffes died within a month of each other.
Prior to that in 2017, the Lahore’s beloved elephant Suzi died of neglect and lack of medical attention.
