Amid bird flu concerns, Nagpur zoo temporarily halts chicken meals for wild animals

Nagpur: Nagpur’s Maharajbagh Zoo has temporarily stopped feeding chicken to wild animals at the facility after three tigers and a leopard died at a wildlife rescue centre in the city, an official has said.

Maharashtra Forest Minister Ganesh Naik said on Thursday that the big cats died of avian influenza, possibly contracted after consuming chicken. However, the exact cause of death will be known only after the lab test report is received, said the minister.

The authorities at the Nagpur zoos have been directed to inspect the food before feeding the animals, the official said, adding that the wildlife rescue centre that lost three tigers and a leopard has been asked to temporarily remain shut.

Bird flu or avian influenza is a type of influenza that primarily affects wild birds and poultry.

Maharajbagh Zoo Chief Health Officer Sunil Baviskar said wild animals at the facility are fed food as per their natural eating habits.

Chicken is not fed to tigers in the Nagpur zoo. But leopards and other animals, which sometimes eat birds naturally, are given poultry meals, he said.

Baviskar maintained that none of the animals in the Maharajbagh Zoo is infected with the bird flu or showing symptoms of the infection.

“But, as a precautionary measure, the supply of chicken for animals has been stopped in the zoo,” he said.

Besides routine sanitisation, disinfection is also carried out at the zoo every two days, he said.

The three tigers and the leopard had been relocated to the Gorewada Rescue Centre in Nagpur from Chandrapur following incidents of man-animal conflict.

The big cats died at the centre last month-end. Their samples were sent to Bhopal for testing, and the test reports on January 2 confirmed they were positive for the H5N1 virus, Gorewada project divisional manager Shatanik Bhagwat said on Monday.

The Union government has issued an advisory, directing zoos to take precautionary measures, he had said, adding the disinfection process was underway as per guidelines.

Meanwhile, the 12 tigers and a leopard at Siddharth Zoo in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar are being given food “treated with boiled water and cold chain mechanism” to safeguard them from avian influenza, an official said.

The new protocol was started after big cat deaths in Nagpur, said Siddharth Zoo veterinarian D Neeti Singh.