Incident: Four lions in Barcelona Zoo were confirmed to be infected with COVID-19

We know that the spread of COVID-19 is basically between people. Recently, four lions in Barcelona Zoo were infected with COVID-19! What exactly is going on? Please find attached the details!

I. Four lions in Barcelona Zoo are infected with COVID-19!

Julie, Acting Director of Barcelona Zoo; Mao Li recently told the local media that four lions in the park, three females and one male, tested positive for COVID-19 in November, and had shown mild COVID-19 symptoms such as cough, but no severe symptoms such as dyspnea. At present, four lions have recovered. They are the only animals in the park suffering from COVID-19. In addition, all the staff who had contact with lions had been tested for COVID-19, and the results were negative.

The local media said that this was the second known case of large cats infected with COVID-19 in the world after 5 tigers and 3 lions in the Bronx Zoo in New York were infected with COVID-19 in April 2020. Barcelona Zoo has contacted experts in relevant international fields to investigate the reason for this situation. What are the living habits of lions? Lions are the only feline species that enjoy living in groups. A lion pack consists of about 20 to 30 members, often including several generations of female lions, at least one adult male lion, and some growing lion cubs and cubs. Mother lions make up the core of the lion pack, and they rarely leave their birthplace. The lion pack may include several adult male lions, but only one is definitely the leader. After a young male lion grows strong enough (usually 5 years old), it will defeat the old king of a certain lion pack and become the new ruler. Most female lions mature and stay in their original pride, while a few are driven away and join other pride groups. The members of the lion pack usually disperse into several small groups to spend each day, and when hunting or dining together, they will gather together. After consuming over 34 kilograms of meat in one meal, an adult male lion can rest for a week before hunting. If there is sufficient prey, male and female lions only spend 2 to 3 hours hunting in the early morning, dusk, or evening each day, and the rest of the time sleeping and resting.

In which regions are lions mainly distributed? Lions were originally distributed in various parts of Africa except for tropical rainforests, as well as in South Asia and the Near East. Now, except for Gill in India, lions in other parts of Asia have disappeared, and there are no more wild lions in North Africa. Currently, lions are mainly distributed in the grasslands south of the Sahara Desert in Africa.

IV. Which animals will be infected with COVID-19?

There are a long list of animals that can be infected by COVID-19: primates, such as bonobos and rhesus monkeys, are mainly included in the highest risk level; Listed as high-risk include whales, dolphins, deer, etc; Familiar pets such as cats, cows, sheep, alpacas, and cougars are classified as medium risk; Dogs, giant pandas, horses, donkeys, wild boars, and other animals are classified as low-risk.

In addition, since the outbreak of COVID-19, there have been positive cases in pet cats and dogs at home, lions and tigers in zoos, and even COVID-19 has been found in some seafood products such as salmon.