THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Seetha, the lone zebra at the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo is no more. For the past several months, she was being tended 24/7 by keepers as she required help to get up. The postmortem examination conducted by doctors from the Chief Disease Investigation Office, Palode, revealed that the 25-year-old Zebra had died of a heart attack. Seetha was removed as an exhibit from the middle of last year as she was suffering from old age ailments. She was finding it difficult to get up and also having difficulty in chewing.
A keeper, Rajendran, and two more additional night keepers along with the regular two night keepers were tending to her round the clock. Seetha was relocated to another side of the enclosure where sand was dumped in the corner so that she could lie down and get up with ease. “The postmortem examination revealed that Seetha had died of a heart attack. She was buried after the postmortem”, said Dr. Jacob Alexander, senior veterinary surgeon.
Seetha arrived as a 10 year old in 2002 from Arignar Anna Zoological Park which is also known as Vandalur Zoo in Chennai. Last December, Seetha fell on her knees and injured herself. Zoo authorities had decided to put a sand bed for her so that her knees would not get further hurt. The usual lifespan of a Zebra in the wild is between 20 and 25 years and in captivity, it can go up to 25 to 30 years.
