THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Seetha, the lone Zebra at the City Zoo here, died on Sunday morning. She was 25-years-old. Seetha, who has been at the zoo for the past 15 years, suffered a cardiac failure at around 10 am. Though the doctors made efforts to revive her, she succumbed to prolonged illness. According to Jacob Alexander, senior veterinary surgeon of the zoo, the animal died due to age-related ailments. The average life span of a zebra is 25 to 30 years.
“Seetha was suffering from age-related ailments for quite some time. She couldn’t stand properly and had trouble getting up once she lay down. We had to lift her up many a times. She was also put in isolation for the past several months. She passed away quietly,” Alexander said.
Seetha arrived at the zoo in 2002 from Vandalloor zoo in Chennai. The zoo authorities had brought the 10-year-old animal to here to mate it with the male zebra called Mani.
However, Mani died soon due to age-related ailments and Seetha had been leading a lonely life since then, officials at the zoo said. The zoo authorities have sent out feelers to the central zoo authorities regarding transfer of more zebras, giraffes, white lion and jaguar. The post mortem of Seetha was conducted by the officials of Chief Disease Investigation Office at Palode at the zoo hospital. Seetha was buried on the premises of zoo at around 4 pm.