Snow leopard died in Illinois zoo

A snow leopard died as a result of a corona infection in a zoo in the US state of Illinois. The eleven-year-old animal named Rilu developed pneumonia as a result of the disease before he died, said Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington.

“Rilu came to Miller Park Zoo from the Oklahoma City Zoo in 2011,” read an Instagram post from the facility. During this time he had seven living offspring and made Miller Park Zoo one of the world’s leading institutions for the creation of snow leopards. “Guests and employees will miss Rilu’s personality and beauty, but he will not be forgotten,” continues the zoo. The zoo did not disclose how the infection came about.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, zoo animals have been infected with the coronavirus again and again. Last November, three snow leopards died in Lincoln, Nebraska, from complications from Covid 19. Corona disease was also diagnosed in a snow leopard at the San Diego Zoo last summer.

Snow leopards are on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as “endangered”, and poaching in particular has decimated their populations. According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are only between 4,000 and 6,500 of the animals left in the wild.

–