All 21 felines in Jharkhand's Ranchi Zoo right from 1.3 years tiger cubs to 14-year-old Mallik are undergoing Covid-19 test to rule out chances of infection in the wake of death of tiger Shiva down with fever for 3 days, an official said Saturday.
The Birsa zoo purchases nearly 95 kilograms of poultry chicken every day to feed its carnivores.
RANCHI: The Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park has decided to stop feeding poultry chicken to its carnivores in a bid to avoid a possible outbreak of avian influenza among its keepers and birds. The carnivores including lions, tigers, leopards, sloth bear, eagles and vultures will be fed mutton till it is considered safe to feed poultry chicken again.
“Feeding mutton will be an expensive affair, but we will manage. There is no evidence to support that carnivores can get infected after consuming the flesh of a dead bird infected with avian influenza. But the zoo-keepers will be at high risk if we continue feeding poultry,” the park’s director, Y K Das, said.