Snow leopard at San Diego Zoo tests positive for coronavirus
- Ramil the snow leopard was tested for the virus after caretakers noticed that he had a cough and runny nose
- In January, a troop of gorillas at the zoo’s sister facility, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, contracted Covid-19 from a keeper
A snow leopard at the San Diego Zoo in California has tested positive for the coronavirus. Ramil, a nine-year-old male snow leopard, was tested for the virus after caretakers noticed that he had a cough and runny nose on Thursday.
The animal’s stool sample was tested by the zoo staff and at a state-level lab, both of which confirmed the presence of the coronavirus, the zoo said in a statement on Friday.
Ramil is not showing additional symptoms. But because he shares an enclosure with a female snow leopard and two Amur leopards, the staff assumes they have been exposed. As a result, the animals were quarantined and their exhibit was closed.
It is unclear how Ramil got infected.
In January, a troop of eight gorillas at the zoo’s sister facility, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, contracted Covid-19 from a keeper who had the virus but showed no symptoms.
The gorilla troop, which has since recovered, became the first known example of the virus infecting apes.