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.
A Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 212 helicopter belonging to the No. 72 squadron has crashed into the Madhuru Oya reservoir this morning, Air FOrce Media Spokesman Eranda Geeganage said.
Update: Five of the twelve passengers on board the bell 212 aircraft that crashed into the Maduru Oya today, have succumbed to their injuries, the SLAF said.
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