Jaguar Dies at Yerevan Zoo

A jaguar has died at the Yerevan Zoo. This information was shared on Facebook by the zoo's director, Arevik Mkrtchyan.

“Although it is bad news, I remain committed to transparency and inform you that we found the jaguar motionless in the morning. There were no clinical symptoms in the last 3-4 days, except for difficulty breathing. It had only refused food the evening before. We administered antibiotic treatment, after which the jaguar became active and started eating one piece instead of half. Its sudden death surprised us all in the early morning, raising many questions. Today, at my invitation, employees from the Ministry of Health, the chief pathologist, and top professors from the Agricultural University arrived at the Zoo to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of the sudden death of the 10-year-old animal.

The preliminary diagnosis indicates a picture characteristic of chronic bronchopneumonia; the animal's lungs, bronchi, liver, and spleen were affected. Visible tissue was also found around the lungs, raising suspicion of new formation, which is why we sent samples for histopathological analysis. We additionally tested for toxoplasmosis, which returned positive (there are two possible reasons: stray cats in the area + contaminated meat in the diet, but this could not have been the cause of death), performed microbiological lab tests on the samples, as well as toxicology tests to rule out all other factors.

The results from the laboratory and the autopsy will be clear within 3-4 days, and I will publish the results as soon as they are available. Until then, I ask everyone to wait for the professional conclusion and to refrain from subjective judgments and unfounded assumptions.

I imported the jaguar from the Republic of Georgia in 2013. The animal was displayed for only 3 years, and after the renovations in 2016, it has been kept in the zoo's quarantine building, where, according to my data, there have always been heating issues. There is no medical history or questionnaire for the animal. No clinical symptoms have been described, but any veterinarian will confirm that the failure to detect and treat bronchial-pulmonary processes in time cannot go without consequences. Histopathology will provide answers to all questions, and a final conclusion will follow. The jaguar was my beloved one—the first feline species gifted to Yerevan…,” she wrote.