5 ostriches die mysteriously at Chennai Zoo; officials await test reports

The zoo had been home to 32 ostriches, of which 5 have succumbed to what is until now, an unknown illness.

Chennai: Zoo officials at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP) near Chennai are monitoring their captive birds after five ostriches died on Wednesday (October 27) and a couple of ostriches are not keeping well.

Zoo officials maintain that the “five ostriches died all of a sudden on 27th October”. The zoo had been home to 32 ostriches, of which 5 have succumbed to what is until now, an unknown illness.

According to the Zoo Director, in-house vets and teams from the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) were present during the postmortem of the birds and had also provided treatment to the remaining ostriches, in order to prevent the spread of the disease. Examination of bacteriology, virology and toxicology samples are also being carried out.