An 11-year-old snow leopard died “after struggling with COVID-19-induced pneumonia,” Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington, Illinois, said on Instagram.
Since Rilu arrived at the zoo in 2011, she produced seven living offspring, the zoo said in a post on Thursday.
In November, three snow leopards, considered vulnerable and in danger of extinction, died at Lincoln Children’s Zoo in Nebraska.
Animals in zoos around world have contracted the virus, spurring vaccination campaigns.