Akbar for special care of wildlife
08 Apr 2020 11:56:55
RMC and Forest Department staff spraying disinfectants.
Staff Reporter :
RAIPUR,
Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar on Tuesday convened an emergency meeting of Forest officials to review the safety measures taken at the national parks, sanctuaries, zoos and wildlife rescue centres in the aftermath of a tigress found positive for coronavirus infection at Bronx Zoo in United States of America. The Minister and officials deliberated on the idea of prohibiting human entry to these places. Minister Akbar directed the officials to comply with the guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in State.
He asked to stop entry of humans in all the zoos and wildlife rescue centres and take necessary measures to prevent the transmission of coronavirus contagion. Minister also informed that entry in zoos and wildlife centres has been banned since March 15. Currently, the meeting was called on to ensure compliance with the guidelines of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Minister instructed to keep the wild animals under constant watch and promptly collect samples on spotting any symptoms of the infection. Forest Minister Akbar further stated that the entire Jungle safari campus and zoo was sanitised with the assistance of Raipur Municipal Corporation. Similarly, sanitisation of Kanan Pendari Zoo in Bilaspur was also completed. Besides, Maitri Bagh Zoo was also apprised about the guidelines of CZA and NTCA.
The staff at Nandanvan were directed to strictly maintain the hygiene and cleanliness in the campus. Arrangement of sanitisers and other materials are being made available to them. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Manoj Pingua, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Rakesh Chaturvedi, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Wildlife Atul Kumar Shukla, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Wildlife Arun Pandey and other Departmental officials. Meanwhile, on the direction of Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar, Jungle Safari Staff in association with Raipur Municipal Corporation sprayed disinfectants in Jungle Safari and Nandanvan Zoo. The Jungle Safari Director Mercy Bela also inspected the enclosures of animals such as tigers on the backdrop of COVID-19 infection in a tigress of Bronx Zoo in the United States of America.