CHENNAI: All the tiger reserves and zoological parks in Tamil Nadu have been put under high alert following advisories issued by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Central Zoo Authority (CZA) on Monday, in the aftermath of a tiger testing positive for novel coronavirus infection at Bronx Zoo in the US.
P Durairasu, PCCF (Head of Forest Force), told Express that even before the NTCA advisory was issued, the Forest Department had notified Field Directors of respective tiger reserves and frontline staff about precautions to be taken. “We have asked the forest guards on regular patrolling to look for any unusual behaviour in tigers movement. For instance, the infected tiger would be moving slowly or show signs of nasal discharge, coughing and laboured breathing.
So far, we haven’t received any such reports,” Durairasu said adding, “We don’t know for sure how the virus behaves in animals.”In the advisory, NTCA has asked the Chief Wildlife Wardens to gear-up frontline staff as well as veterinary officials engaged in monitoring tiger mortality to detect and prevent any spread in tiger in the wild. “Being a notifiable disease, any positive case needs to be reported immediately to the NTCA,” it said.
Hygienic measures
Officials in Vandalur zoo said strict hygienic measures and safety protocols are being followed and all the animals are healthy