Jaipur Zoo lion tests positive for COVID-19; other animals in line for resampling

While a Tiger named, Tripur, has tested positive for COVID in the Jaipur zoo, the Indian Veterinary Research Institute will be repeating tests for a few other animals, whose reports were inconclusive. These include a panther, a whiter tiger and a lioness. As per reports, 13 animal samples were received from the zoo out of which one was reported positive.

Animals under the COVID radar now!

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The zoological garden at the Rajasthan state capital extended samples of three lions, three tigers and one panther among other animals to the IVRI in Bareilly to check the prevalence of coronavirus in them. However, K.P Singh, the Joint Director of the research, emphasized the need for resampling one white tiger, one pather and one lioness, due to indeterminate results.

The threat of COVID-19 in animals has been recently identified as one lion at Jaipur Zoo and two lionesses at the Etawah Safari Park in UP have been found positive. The IVRI Officials have concluded that the chain of transmission of the virus could have been progressed through caretakers who must be asymptomatic human carriers. The research institute has asked these zoological centres and safari parks to keep the infected animal in isolation.

The CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology had informed that eight Asiatic lions in the Hyderabad zoo have also tested positive for Covid. Meanwhile, eight samples including, three tigers, one civet cat, one black buck received from Chhatbir Zoo in Punjab and one of a blackbuck in Bareilly had tested negative for the virus.