Mumbai: All animals at Byculla zoo are doing well, says administration

Shakti, one of the star attractions at the zoo. File pic/Suresh Karkera

All the animals, birds and reptiles kept at the Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo are in good health, they are closely monitored by health teams, and no testing is required at this stage, said the administration, after the reports of eight lions at Hyderabad testing positive for Covid-19.

The lions at the Nehru Zoological Park were showing Covid-19 like symptoms - coughing, nasal discharge, and loss of appetite in the last week of April.

The Byculla zoo was closed to the public last year and reopened on February 15. It was shut in April again after Covid-19 cases started rising. Besides Humboldt penguins, tigers, leopards, hyenas and the aviary are the major attractions of the zoo. The aviary was closed even when the zoo reopened in February due to fear of bird flu.

"The zoo is now closed to the public. We are testing all the staff by RT-PCR intermittently and making sure that all are vaccinated," said Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director of the zoo. He added that all precautions were being taken to minimise the movement of staff inside sensitive animal exhibits like those of the tigers. He also said that all the animals are routinely medically examined by the health teams and they are in good health.