Lions at zoo found foaming at the mouth and in a critical state after being 'poisoned' by visitor

By ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN

Ill: Aru und Aketi became unwell and zookeepers believe a visitor is behind their colic illness

A pair of lions began foaming at the mouth and became critically ill after being 'poisoned' by a visitor at Berlin's famous zoo.
Aru and Aketi were spotted foaming at the mouth five days ago and stopped eating and drinking.
They also developed colic - a condition where they repeatedly cried out in distress.

Cause: Although the lions began making a slow recovery on Saturday, experts say they need to regain more strength before blood samples can be taken from them - not likely to be until later in the week

Zookeepers believe the pair must have been poisoned by a visitor to the 168-year old zoo located in the Tiergarten area of the city.
The zoo said that the meat fed to the pair as part of their diet was not contaminated; the meat is eaten by all 16 big cats at the zoo and no others fell ill.

Disregard: Zoo visitors routinely ignore signs placed at the enclosure of every animal forbidding animal feeding. Every day zoo staff retrieve left over hamburgers, pizzas, sweets and ice cream

Curator Heiner Kloes said: 'We think that someone threw something into their enclosure.'
Blood samples from Aru, a male, and his sister Aketi will be required to try and identify the cause of their sudden illness.
Although the pair began making a slow recovery on Saturday, experts say they need to regain more strength before blood samples can be taken from them - not likely to be until later in the week.

'Poisoned': The beautiful creatures began foaming at the mouth after being fed something that was not part of their zoo diet, keepers believe

The lions, who were born in the zoo in October 2007, need to be fit and healthy to withstand a general anaesthetic delivered via a dartgun.
Zoo visitors routinely disregard the signs placed at the enclosure of every animal - that it is forbidden to feed them.
Every day zoo staff retrieve plastic beakers, left over hamburgers, pizzas, sweets, ice cream and cakes pushed through the bars.
It is the first incident of poisoning at the zoo in 25 years. The suspicion is that a visitor put poison in a chunk of raw meat which both animals ate.


The poisoning at Berlin Zoo, pictured, is the first in 25 years

The Berlin Zoo is the most visited zoo in Europe with approximately 3million annual visitors from all over the world.
Almost all of the animals are housed in enclosures that are specially designed to recreate their natural habitat.
The carnivore house displays all big cats and many rare small predators, such as ring-tailed mongooses and narrow-striped mongooses from Madagascar.

source: dailymail