Vandalur zoo on high alert amid Covid spike among big cats

CHENNAI: Following reports of eight Asiatic lions in a Hyderabad zoo testing positive for Covid-19, the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur is on high alert. It has collected fecal samples of its big cats for test.

The director of the zoo, Debasis Jana, told Express that none of their big cats exhibited any known symptom of the infection. “As a precautionary measure, however, we are collecting fecal samples, which will be sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) for Covid-19 test.

Samples are usually collected from nose, throat, and respiratory tract, but the animal needs to be tranquillised for that. Since doing this might jeopardise its immunity, we do not want to do that,” the director said.

This apart, RT-PCR tests were conducted on all the zoo keepers, who were also told to not touch the animals. “Arrangements are being made to vaccinate all the zoo employees on a priority basis,” Jana said.