In view of an advisory by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change following reports of a tiger infected with COVID-19 in the United States, the State Forest Department is planning to disinfect ponds near human habitats in the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Angul district as a precautionary measure against transmission of the virus from humans to animals.
Notably, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has put all the tiger reserves in the country on high alert.
Angul RCCF Pradeep Raj Karat said the NTCA has issued an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for safety of wild animals in forests. As human is the only medium for spreading the virus in animals, restrictions will be imposed on free movement of people in the wildlife sanctuary. “As a preventive measure, we have directed to disinfect ponds used by both humans and animals located near villages in the premises of Satkosia Tiger Reserve.” The authorities have restricted villagers from accessing the ponds directly and to use water after collecting it from ponds.
Another sanctuary official said that there is a move to disinfect the ponds with potassium permanganate. The sanctuary houses only two Royal Bengal tigers. While one has been kept in an enclosure, the other has been released into the wild.
Adhering to the NTCA guidelines, officials have been asked to sanitise their hands and maintain social distancing while handling the tigers and other animals. All the animals in the forest would be monitored through CCTV.
Meanwhile, as per an advisory issued by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) authorities have begun a disinfection process at a zoo in the premises of Indira Gandhi (IG) Park in the steel city.
A team headed by senior veterinary officer Dr Avijit Biswas has been assigned to disinfect the entire zoo managed by the RSP. The officials have been engaged in spraying chemicals at the zoo to prevent transmission of COVID-19 to the animals.