Samples taken from as many as 28 elephants camped in Anaimalai Tiger Reserve by the forest department officials have tested negative, according to deputy director of Anaimalai Tiger Reserve.
Coimbatore: Samples taken from as many as 28 elephants camped in Anaimalai Tiger Reserve by the forest department officials have tested negative, according to deputy director of Anaimalai Tiger Reserve.
All the samples have been checked with veterinary doctors at Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Uttar Pradesh.
Sources say that the samples have been taken after the instructions of Tamil Nadu Forest Minister K. Ramachandran on 8.06.2021. The move comes days after when 11 lions in Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur near Chennai tested positive. One nine-year-old lioness had also succumbed to the virus, making it to be the first in the country.
The deputy director of Anaimalai Tiger Reserve Arockiaraj Xavier says, all the 28 elephants camped in the kozhikamuthi in ATR tested negative for the covid19.
Forest Veterinarians say that the samples taken from these elephants are just a precaution and thus none of them had shown any symptoms.
The lions tested in the zoo had shown symptoms of cough and lack of appetite, however the camped elephants did not.
Arockiaraj Xavier, deputy director of Anaimalai Tiger Reserve also confirmed that even though the elephants tested negative, the steps to safeguard them will continue.
Earlier, 28 elephants at Theppakadu in Mudhumali Tiger Reserve has also been tested and their results came as negative.
Anaimalai Tiger Reserve is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. Animals such as tiger, leopard, elephant, Indian Gaur etc are often spotted by tourists here.