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Cheetah (symbolic image): Why the two animals died in the Thuringian Zoopark has yet to be clarified
Photo: Denis Farrell/AP
Sad news from the Erfurt Zoo: Two cheetahs died there a few days apart.
Ashanti, born in Erfurt in 2018, was found dead in the enclosure last Wednesday, as a spokeswoman for the Thuringian Zoopark Erfurt announced on Tuesday.
The almost 13-year-old cheetah mother Sima died on Monday.
Last week there was a massive infestation of fleas in the cheetah enclosure.
This is not unusual in itself - but cat fleas can quickly cause complications in weak or chronically ill animals.
"At this time of year, a mass infestation can sometimes occur very quickly, as the fleas prepare for their survival in the winter," says the statement.
"There is a high probability of an entry about feral domestic cats from the zoo's surroundings, but hedgehogs, martens or foxes are also conceivable, since the zoo park is home to a large number of wild animals on its large grounds."
The fleas would suck blood and could therefore cause severe blood poisoning, it is said.
In the first pathological examination, four-year-old Ashanti showed severe liver changes and severe anemia, from which she died.
The first pathological findings on Sima were oral and would indicate severe peritonitis as the cause of death, as the zoo announced.
A piece of bone from a prey animal that may have injured the intestines could have been the cause of the inflammation.
However, this will be further investigated.
According to the report, the peritonitis was accompanied by blood poisoning, which was triggered by the flea infestation.
The Erfurt cheetahs were also previously ill: they had a copper metabolism disorder, which was probably genetic and cannot be cured, the zoo said.
Copper deficiency affects many metabolic cycles - copper is involved in many processes in the body, including the development of the immune system and blood formation.
"We are all shocked and cannot yet fully explain how the cheetahs developed so severely," zoo director Sabine Merz is quoted as saying in the statement.
“So far we have been assuming that several unfortunate circumstances have coincided.” Comprehensive investigations will be carried out.
ani/dpa
