Lions and tigers infected with COVID-19 at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC are being fed chicken broth, goats cheese and baby food after the big cats stopped eating their meat.
The animals have been showing signs of improvement a week after the zoo revealed a Sumatran tiger, two Amur tigers and six African lions all tested positive for coronavirus.
But some are still exhibiting a loss of appetite, fatigue and respiratory distress, the Seattle Times reports.
A female Sumatran tiger named Damai, a male Amur tiger named Metis, and a female Amur tiger named Nikita are all 'eating and alert,' but Nikita and Damai still have 'very mild' coughs.
Meanwhile, two lionesses, Naba and Amahle and a male lion named Luke have also shown improvements, zoo official said in a statement.
Pictured: Luke, a lion at the National Zoo in DC, is one of the animals at the facility that has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said
A female Sumatran tiger named Damai, pictured, a male Amur tiger named Metis, and a female Amur tiger named Nikita are all 'eating and alert,' but Nikita and Damai still have 'mild' coughs
On Friday, zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson said that caretakers in charge of overseeing the big cats had been noticing that some of the wild animals were not eating or drinking.
'We saw a real decrease in appetite interest so this week they’ve done more to stimulate their appetite,' she told the Times.
Zookeepers at the National Zoo say they first spotted the animals' COVID-19 symptoms on September 11 and 12, according to the outlet.
Caretakers have
