Four lions at Barcelona Zoo have been infected with the novel coronavirus and two have recovered.

Julie Maury, acting director of Barcelona Zoo, recently told the local media that four lions in the park tested positive for COVID-19 in November and showed mild symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough, but no severe symptoms such as dyspnea.

At present, four lions have recovered. They are the only animals in the park who have COVID-19. In addition, all staff who have had contact with lions have tested for COVID-19 and have tested negative.

Local media said that this is the second known case of large cats infected with COVID-19 in the world after five tigers and three lions contracted COVID-19 at the Bronx Zoo in New York in April 2020.

Barcelona Zoo has contacted experts in relevant fields to investigate the cause of this situation.