Craig Saffoe, curator of the great cats at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, had warned his staff in advance that Shera, the African lion, might not pull through. She had been infected with covid-19’s highly contagious delta variant.... In January, two white tiger cubs died of it in a zoo in Lahore, Pakistan.... Tigers have tested positive at zoos in Norfolk and the Bronx....

When people with wealth die, there are often unrealized capital gains from stock, bond and real estate investments.... But it’s also rather complicated to figure out exactly what those gains might be, especially if accurate records were not kept. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement So, to keep things simple, the value of the assets given to heirs was set at the value at the time of death.... Those levels are also indexed for inflation, though they are due to be cut almost in half