Three lions at a Tokyo zoo have died from suspected heatstroke and others are being treated, a spokeswoman said yesterday, with the big cats struggling with high humidity.
Japan suffered through its hottest summer on record last year and parts of the country have hit 40°C in the past few weeks, meeting the threshold for the new designation “cruelly hot day,” with thousands of people hospitalized.
Ten of the 16 lions in Tama Zoological Park have suffered symptoms such as “loss of appetite and decreased activity” since the middle of last month, and three lionesses died, the zoo said in a statement.
Photo: REUTERS
One three-year-old female died on Tuesday last week, another aged 11 died on Friday, and a third aged 15 died on Sunday
The Tama Zoological Park said the lion enclosure, where visitors can ride in zebra-striped “safari” buses, was closed to the public until further notice.
“According to our veterinarian, the cause of the deaths is suspected to be heatstroke” because dehydration and multiple organ failure were observed, a spokeswoman said. “Even though lions are thought to be resistant to heat, zookeepers have been strengthening countermeasures to cope with Japan’s summer heat in the past few years,” she said. “Heat here comes with high humidity; that is different from heat with dry air in Africa.”
The spokeswoman said the heat “arrived suddenly” this summer after the rainy season ended late last month.
“We are strengthening measures against the heat [further], sprinkling water, improving ventilation and installing spot air conditioners,” she said.
Several lions are still being treated, she added.
The lions named Mugi, Ichigo and Luena “were born, lived and died in confinement, deprived of everything that makes life worth living for a wild animal,” animal rights group PETA said in a statement. “Zoos are not rescues or sanctuaries; they exist to display animals for profit, not to put animals’ needs first.”
Close to 18,600 people were hospitalized for heatstroke between July 20 and 26, with 45 of them pronounced dead on arrival, according to the fire and disaster management agency.
Japan experiences about 1,300 heat-related deaths annually and aims to halve that number by 2030.
Scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events in Japan and elsewhere.
Its highest recorded temperature of 41.8°C was registered on Aug. 5 last year in Isesaki, north of Tokyo.
Authorities have adjusted the timing of several cultural and sporting events in recent years because of the heat, including the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, which held its final summer edition last weekend.
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