Corbett National Park Steps with Quarantine Wards for Wildlife 

News Update: After the transmission of the Novel Coronavirus to a tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York, USA has awakened authorities at Uttarakhand's Corbett National Park, crowned with India's oldest national park, to set up quarantine centers and wards at Kalagarh and Bijrani ranges for tigers, elephants and sniffer dog squads. Warden RK Tiwari told news agency IANS: "At least 10 quarantine centres are being prepared within the premises to contain animals. We are also holding talks on converting the cages built for wild animals into a quarantine facility."

Apart from these, 40 video mode cameras and 450 still mode cameras have been installed at the outer peripheries of the Corbett Tiger Reserve in order to keep a tab on any abnormal behavior by animals, which might suggest they have contracted the Covid 19 contagion. Staffs on patrolling have been asked to keep watch. However, Dr. Dushyant, Corbett's wildlife medical officer, believes there is less risk of animals, especially tigers, getting infected in forest areas. "However, if the animals which live near the human population come into contact with an infected person or things, then they might get infected too, "he added.

Source: TOI