Snow Leopard At Illinois Zoo Dies Of COVID-19 Complications

BLOOMINGTON, IL — An 11-year-old snow leopard who had lived at Bloomington's Miller Park Zoo for the past 10 years had died of complications from the coronavirus, the zoo announced on its social media channels.

The snow leopard, named Rilu, arrived at the Miller Park Zoo in 2011 from the Oklahoma City Zoo. During his time here, he produced seven living offspring that are now part of the Species Survival Plan, the zoo said in the post.

Rilu made the Miller Park Zoo one of the leading institutions in the world in producing snow leopard cubs.

The zoo said in a social media post that Rilu had been suffering from COVID-19-induced pneumonia before he died.

“Rilu’s personality and beauty will be missed by guests and staff, but he will not be forgotten,” zoo officials wrote.

Rilu was captured on film in Joel Sartore’s project titled "The Photo Ark." The photos and video of Rilu have been shown all over the world, including on the Empire State Building in New York. Sartore posted about the snow leopard’s death on Instagram and expressed sadness at the news that Rilu had died from complications of COVID-19.

In the post, the photographer wrote that snow leopards are proving to be extremely susceptible to the disease, and it often proves fatal. CNN reported that three snow leopards had died previously at a zoo in Lincoln, Nebraksa, and that two hippos had tested positive for COVID-19 in Belgium.

“I love that the legacy of Rilu will live on in the Photo Ark," Miller Park Zoo Superintendent Jay Tetzloff said in the post. "Rilu will engage and astonish the world for many years to come.”