All 5 meerkats die at the Philadelphia Zoo due to an unknown toxin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Philadelphia Zoo is trying to solve the mystery surrounding the deaths of five of its meerkats. They say all five died this month because of an unknown toxin.
The meerkats names were, Nkosi, Lula, Nya, Kgala, and Ari. All five meerkats were brought in as a group of siblings 12 years ago.
The zoo is teaming up with the United States Department of Agriculture to investigate how the meerkats died.
"We suspect that it was potentially a dye that we use to mark these animals so that we can identify them as individuals. It's a dye that we have used for over 30 years and used it successfully. It has been used in the agricultural industry and also in research with wild animals," said Rachel Metz, the zoo's vice president of animal well-being.
The dye was used on the meerkats on June 1, and one of them was found dead about 30 minutes later, officials told the Associated Press. The four others then started showing signs of acute illness minutes later, so veterinary staff anesthetized them and pumped their stomachs. Despite their efforts, all three of the meerkats then died within 36 hours. The last one died Monday night after being under medical supervision for over a week.
Metz says necropsy results are pending to determine the causes of death.