Ranchi: As many as 11 big cats from Ranchi’s Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park were screened for possible Covid-19 infections on Saturday.
Their nasopharyngeal swabs and blood samples were collected by a team of veterinary doctors and sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) laboratory in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly for RT-PCR tests.
Talking to TOI, zoo director Y K Das said, “Among the big cats screened on Saturday were leopards and lions.
We have 21 big cats in the zoo and all of their swabs will be collected for Covid-19 tests.” The zoo, spread over 104 hectares, has nine tigers, eight leopards (including one black panther) and four lions currently.
The screening for big cats in the zoo was held two days after Shiva, a 10-year-old male tiger, died of kidney and liver ailments on the night of June 4.
The tiger, however, had a high fever and loss of appetite since May 31, causing the park management to suspect a possible Covid-19 infection.
Swabs and blood samples of Shiva were sent to IVRI Bareilly for RT-PCR tests on Friday after he tested negative for Covid-19 in a rapid antigen test, the park management had said.
The results of Shiva’s RT-PCR tests are expected in a week.
Das said besides sanitizing the enclosures with antiviral drugs and screening the felines for Covid-19, all other species of animals, which are featured in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, will be put through an annual physical examination in June every year to look for symptoms of signs of possible serious ailments of kidneys, hearts, lung and other organs.
Sloth bear dies in zoo Meanwhile, a 10-year-old female sloth bear died of injuries after she was attacked by a 12-year-old male sloth bear on Saturday.
The incident happened around 4:30 pm in the bear enclosure.
Das said the male bear, Chotu, attacked the female during mating.
The female bear was brought to the zoo from Jamtara after being rescued from a Madari.
However, given the fact that bears do turn aggressive during mating, questions are being asked as to why additional cage keepers were not deployed around the enclosure to prevent such an incident.