San Diego Zoo leopard tests positive for COVID-19

Gulf Today Report

Ramil, a 9-year-old male snow leopard at the San Diego Zoo has tested positive for the coronavirus.

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According to the local media, the zoo staff first tested the animal’s stool for the virus after noticing that he had a cough and runny nose.

When that test came back positive, the wildlife care team sent samples to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System so that the state-level lab could confirm the result, which it did.

While the zoo is still waiting for a US Department of Agriculture lab to triple-check the finding, it expects that sample to also come back positive, according to a spokesperson.

In a statement, the zoo said that keepers are monitoring Ramil and that his symptoms have not progressed.

Because he shares an enclosure with a female snow leopard and two Amur leopards, staff are assuming the other three big cats have been exposed and are quarantining all of them. It is not clear yet how Ramil was infected.