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Updated: Apr 09, 2020 16:47 IST

Elephants used in patrol duty in the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand will no longer be fed sugarcane bought from local markets in a bid to stop a possible transmission of coronavirus to animals, forest department officials said Wednesday.

The decision was taken after a tiger in the Bronx zoo in New York tested positive for coronavirus.

The elephants would be fed forest produce like bamboo, tree barks and leaves.

Dr Dushyant Sharma, a senior veterinary doctor at Corbett Tiger Reserve said, “There are 16 patrol elephants in the park. Five elephants are in Kalagarh, three in Jhirna, two in Bijrani, four in Dhikala and two in Haldupadav range. These elephants are generally fed sugarcane purchased from the local market.”

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Dr Sharma said Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has given instructions to keep vigil on elephants in the park, especially the Kalagarh shelter camp of Corbett.

“According to CZA instructions elephants will not be fed sugarcane purchased from the market. If sugarcane comes from the market then the risk of spreading coronavirus remains in these elephants. Restrictions have been imposed on mahouts also on coming out of the park,” he said.

Dr Sharma said “Now these elephants will be given only leaves, bark of trees and jiggery so that they don’t come into contact with food touched by a lot of people in crowded markets.”

But it is not only elephants that will be denied their favourite food.

There are also four sniffer dogs in Corbett National Park and are used by the forest staff to patrol Corbett’ border with Uttar Pradesh. They are also fed meat purchased from the Ramnagar market.

“Now they will not be fed meat purchased from the market, but dog food. Forest personnel have also been instructed to keep dogs away from dirty water and food lying on ground during patrolling at UP border,” said Dr Sharma.

Corbett is one of the favourite destinations in the country for big cat lovers as it affords good sighting of tigers. It has around 260 tigers according to the last estimate. The park has a rich biodiversity including around 110 tree species, 50 species of mammals, 580 bird species, 33 species of reptiles, seven species of amphibians and so on. The park extends over 1288 sq km spread over three districts of Uttarakhand - Pauri Garhwal, Nainital and Almora.