Valmiki tiger reserve and zoo to remain closed for tourism activities in Bihar

PATNA: In adherence to an order issued by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), state environment, forests and climate change department has decided to keep Valimiki Tiger Reserve in West Champaran and Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna closed for visitors and tourism activities till further orders.
The state forests department has also asked the staff at VTR to remain inside the tiger reserve to prevent spread of the virus.
NTCA on Tuesday asked all states to close down tiger reserves, national parks, and sanctuaries till its further orders citing Covid-19 infection as reason behind death of a lioness inside a zoo in Chennai.
“As per the news reports, a lioness in Vandalur zoo, Chennai is suspected to have died due to Covid-19 infection and several other lions of the same zoo have been tested positive for SARS COV-2... for preventing the possible transmission of Covid-19 from human beings to wild tigers and other wildlife, all Tiger Reserves under your jurisdiction need to be closed for tourism activities until further orders,” the NTCA order reads.
Principal Secretary (forests department) Dipak Kumar Singh told TOI: “Following receipt of the order from NTCA, a correspondence has been made for formal closure of Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), which is the only tiger reserve in Bihar. Besides, priority of vaccination of the staff against the virus, health of the animals in the tiger reserve is also being monitored regularly.”
He added that identification of symptoms in tigers is initially done through change in their food habits and incidentally, no animal has been identified with any such symptom so far.
The letter issued by Rajendra G Garawad, Deputy Inspector General of Forests (NTCA) to all states on June 7 stated that the latest instance of zoo animals getting infected by Covid-19 once again indicates the high likelihood of disease transmission from affected human beings to captive wild animals. “A similar transmission may also happen in tiger reserves,” the letter reads.
Additional chief conservator of forest (wildlife) Prabhat Kumar Gupta told TOI on Thursday: “We issued letters to officials at VTR as well as Patna zoo on the same day on which NTCA issued its letter in this regard. They have been asked to close down all tourism related activities. We issued letter to Patna zoo on the same issue even though it did not come under the purview of the NTCA order and a similar order from Central Zoo Authority (CZA) is also already in effect.”
He added that instructions have also been issued to VTR authorities to vaccinate their staff on priority basis.
Earlier, a nine-year old lioness called Neela in the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur succumbed to Covid-19 on June 3. According to sources, nine more lions have tested positive for Covid-19. Similar reports have earlier been reported in Hyderabad, Jaipur and Ettawa and several other places worldwide.