Suspicious Tiger Deaths In Pench Tiger Reserve, Samples Collected For COVID-19 Testing

In the Pench Tiger Reserve, swab samples of tigers will be collected through the forest department and sent for coronavirus testing. After the suspicious deaths of tigers, the state government is leaving no stone unturned.

File Image of Tiger

With the news of the coronavirus infecting big cats in Madhya Pradesh, especially after the death of lions at a Chennai zoo, the MP forest department is leaving no stone unturned. It has decided to collect blood and oropharyngeal swab samples of tigers at the Pench Tiger Reserve, Seoni, amid suspicious tiger deaths. The samples will be sent for COVID-19 testing.

Tiger Samples For Coronavirus Testing

According to officials, the decision was taken after the forensic science laboratory failed to accurately diagnose the cause of the deaths. In the last two months, samples of two tigers have been taken and the process is going on at the Pench Tiger Reserve.

Fortunately, the swab samples of both these tigers tested negative. The deaths of three 5- and 8-year-old tigers have been recorded at the Pench Tiger Reserve since January. According to the latest data, there are 53 tigers in the reserve.

Forest department officials say that this is the first time that a tiger sample will be tested for COVID-19. Earlier, a similar investigation was done in Van Vihar and Panna Tiger Reserve. But for the first time, a large-scale effort is being made in the Pench Tiger Reserve.

Madhya Pradesh Government In Shock After Suspicious Deaths

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Alok Kumar said that the swab testing proposal at the Pench Tiger Reserve is under review and the final decision will be taken after the meeting of the technical committee. But the ground reality shows that the process has already begun in Pench and Seoni. He added that there is a general protocol that any tiger showing signs of infection is to be tested. Symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, and lethargy

During the first wave of the coronavirus, the death of a 10-year-old tiger under suspicious circumstances led to an uproar. Wildlife activists have blamed the coronavirus for the death.

A petition was filed in the Supreme Court demanding an inquiry into the death of the tiger in Pench. The country's Supreme Court ordered the Ministry of Environment and Forests to ascertain the cause of death.

On the other hand, the state government presented a lab report and told the court that the virus was not the reason behind the tiger's death.