2 white tiger cubs in Pakistan likely passed away of COVID-19: Zoo officials

Two 11-week-old white tiger cubs that died in a Pakistani zoo last month may actually have got died of COVID-19, officials said.

The cubs died in the Lahore Zoo on Jan. 30, four times after starting treatment for what officials thought was feline panleukopenia virus, an illness that zoo officials stated is prevalent in Pakistan and targets cats' immune system.

But an autopsy found the cubs' lungs were badly damaged plus they were troubled from severe infection, with pathologists concluding they died from COVID-19. Although no PCR test for the brand new corona virus was executed, zoo deputy director Kiran Saleem informed Reuters the zoo believes the cubs had been the victims of the pandemic that has killed 12,256 people in Pakistan. "After their death, the zoo administration conducted tests of most officials, and six were tested confident, including one official who handled the cubs," Saleem explained. "It strengthens the results of the autopsy. The cubs almost certainly found the virus from the individual managing and feeding them." Pakistan's zoos regularly draw the ire of animal privileges activists, who say a huge selection of animals have passed away from poor living circumstances there.

"The last two bright white tiger cubs have died at Lahore zoo as soon as once again the negligence of the administration and authorities has turn out," Zufishan Anushay, founder of JFK (Justice for Kiki) Pet Rescue And Shelter, told Reuters. In December two Himalayan brown bears had been airlifted out of your Islamabad Zoo to a sanctuary in Jordan. That rescue emerged weeks after an elephant Kaavan was relocated to a sanctuary in Cambodia, the culmination of a years-long campaign that included US pop star Cher.

At the Peshawar Zoo, officials have stated four giraffes died in 2020. Last year two lions at Islamabad Zoo suffocated when personnel lit fires within their cages.