On the night of June 1, a young lioness was found gasping for breath in her cage at the Arignar Anna Zoo or Vandalur Zoo in Chennai. The nine-year-old Asiatic lion named Neela had a runny nose, coughing fits, and a high fever.
When the zoo doctors watched her from outside her enclosure, Neela suddenly collapsed, weak and panting, and her legs were unable to support her weight. Neela stopped breathing and died within 24 hours. Neela's death came as a shock to Dr Sridhar K and his team, but when nine of the 15 Asiatic lions at the zoo began to lose their appetite and showed acute signs of cold and shortness of breath, Sridhar knew they were dealing with something unusual.
"We suspected COVID19, but we weren't sure why the animals were so sick as coronavirus positive lions were asymptomatic in other zoos," said Dr Sridhar, a veterinarian at Arignar Anna Zoo, told TNM.
However, on the night of June 1, Dr was confirmed in humans during the second wave of the pandemic. The zoo authorities knew this infection had the potential to kill their lions in days. For the next 50 days, the Zoo team donned their riot gear to fight the biggest battle of their career. In an interview with TNM, the team set out to treat, examine, closely monitor and ultimately rescue 13 of the 15 lions in the zoo.