Jaguar Jago found dead in Yerevan Zoo

YEREVAN, February 15. /ARKA/. Jaguar Jago was found dead in Yerevan Zoo the day before, Arevik Khachatryan, the director of the zoo, reported in a Facebook post.

She said the jaguar had no clinical symptoms for the last 3-4 days, except for shortness of breath and refused food only the night before.

‘We treated it with antibiotics, after which the jaguar became active and started eating one portion instead of half. The death took us all by surprise early in the morning, raising many questions," Khachatryan wrote.

She said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of the 10-year-old jaguar's death. The initial diagnosis is chronic bronchopneumonia. The animal's lungs, bronchi, liver and spleen were affected, and neoplasms around the lungs were also seen.

"The jaguar was brought in from Georgia back in 2013. The animal had only been exhibited for 3 years, and after a renovation of the zoo in 2016, it was still being kept in the park's quarantine enclosure, where, according to my information, there were always heating problems. Jago was my favorite, the first cat given to Yerevan Zoo," Khachatryan wrote.

The Yerevan Zoo has been involved in scandals in recent years. In the summer of 2021 the employees protested against the appointment of Arevik Khachatryan as director. There have been periodic reports of animal deaths.

In late October-early November 2019, a pack of stray dogs twice entered the Yerevan zoo in a 24-hour period, killing, three mouflons and three kangaroos. Over the past year it emerged that number of animals died. Many of them, according to the management of the zoo, died because of diseases (tuberculosis, leukemia), some suffered as a result of intraspecific struggle. In particular, two tigers, a zebra, a bear, a bezoar goat, and a crocodile died in the zoo. After a series of incidents, zoo’s previous director Ruben Khachatryan resigned. -0-