In the nine months of this year, five wild animals have died in the Erfurt Zoopark. The causes of death have not yet been finally clarified. In the case of the recently deceased cheetah, the first results are now available.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - According to initial findings, the cause of death of the two cheetahs from the Erfurt Zoo is said to be related to a heavy flea infestation. The zoo announced on Wednesday that these first “rough results” were the result of a pathological examination.
Last week, according to the zoo, there was "massive colonization with fleas" in the cheetah enclosure. It remains unclear where the parasites came from. The flea infestation triggered severe anemia (anemia) in the cheetahs.
Within a few days, Ashanti and Sima had died. The cub Ashanti, born in the zoo in 2018, was found dead in the enclosure a week ago, and the 13-year-old cheetah mother Sima also died on Monday.
According to the zoo, Ashanti showed severe liver changes and severe anemia in the first pathological examination, from which she then died. Her sister Jala has now recovered. Mother Sima could not be saved "despite intensive medical treatment". In addition to anemia, initial findings also pointed to a very severe peritonitis as the cause of death.
"So far we have been assuming that several unfortunate circumstances have coincided," said zoo director Sabine Merz on Wednesday. "We are conducting a comprehensive investigation of this and other cases that is aimed in all directions, since it is of course still important to us to process the cases. It is important to all of us to have a healthy, vital animal population on our park grounds."
Sima and Ashanti are not the first wild animals to die at Zoopark Erfurt this year. It was not until June that the three-year-old lioness Latika died of severe damage to her lungs and liver. In February, the little rhino bull Tayo was found dead in his box. According to the zoo, he also died "completely unexpectedly", the cause is still unclear.
Equally inexplicable is the death of the pregnant rhinoceros Marcita. The young bull's mother was found lifeless in her box two days later. Due to the deaths, the animal rights organization PETA is calling for an independent investigation into lion and cheetah keeping in Erfurt and a possible closure of the zoo.
