Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s zoo’s only cheetah, 14-year-old Abdullah, gifted in 2013 by Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Muhammad Al Saud, died of heart attack on Friday in the Nehru Zoological Park, zoo officials confirmed on Sunday.
Prince Saud had also gifted two African lions and a female cheetah named Hiba, who died in 2020 during the lockdown. Since Hiba's death, Abdullah has been left alone.
Abdullah was the centre of attention as visitors thronged the city zoo to watch it, particularly after cheetahs from Namibia were released in Kuno National Park last September.
"On Friday afternoon, Abdullah did not respond to the keeper when he went to feed the big cat after closing hours, and subsequently the keeper informed the vet team, which confirmed that it had died. It was an unexpected death," zoo authorities told Deccan Chronicle.
The Veterinary Biological & Research Institute (VBRI), which conducted the post-mortem, claimed that the cheetah died of heart failure.
According to Dr. M.A. Hakeem, the zoo's deputy director (veterinary), Abdullah died of sudden congestive heart failure with no clinical symptoms. The wild cat's profile was healthy and all final examination results were normal. All samples have been collected and the VBRI will be sending a final post-mortem report in a week.
