A 11-year-old male at the main national zoological gardens Dehiwala has contracted COVID-19, the Director General of the Zoo Ishini Wickremesinghe said.
The animal was tested after it refrained from taking meals and showed discomfort in breathing.
Several tests had been carried on the animal before it was confirmed COVID-19 infected, she said.
The lion has been currently isolated and precautions have been taken to ensure that the other animals are not infected.
The authorities are also in touch with the Central Zoo Authority in India on handling the situation, Ms Wickremesinghe said in a statement.
The lion, named ‘Thor’, has been in the lion exhibit at the zoo for the last 8 years, since it was brought from South Korea in 2012.
The zoo has been closed for the public for the last month and only workers feeding the animals had been brought in for work during this period.
Former Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, arrested on allegation of corruption by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has been remanded until July 1 by the Colombo Magistrate court.
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