Bird flu scare Gorakhpur Zoo shut for week after death of tigress 4 animals dead so far

Gorakhpur (UP), May 13 (PTI) Following confirmation of bird flu in a deceased tigress, the Gorakhpur zoo has been shut down for seven days as a precautionary measure, officials said on Tuesday.
    Zoo Director Vikas Yadav issued the closure order under directives from the chief conservator of forests. The zoo will now reopen to the public on May 21, according to the order.
    The alarm was raised after the death of tigress Shakti on May 7. Her viscera samples were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, which confirmed bird flu as the cause of death.
    Since then, zoo authorities have been on high alert, fearing the virus may have spread to other animals, a zoo official said.
    So far, four animal deaths have been reported - a tiger, tigress, leopard, and female wolf. Mona, a female leopard brought from Kanpur four years ago, died on Thursday, the official said.
    Both Shakti and female wolf Bhairavi exhibited identical symptoms -” low water intake for 24 hours followed by organ failure. Their samples were sent to IVRI Bareilly and NIHSAD Bhopal. Bhairavi's results are awaited, the official added.
    Meanwhile, a sick tiger named Pataudi was recently transferred to the Kanpur zoo, raising concerns about the potential spread of the virus there.
    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired a high-level meeting in Lucknow on Tuesday, and directed officials to enforce maximum vigilance across all zoos in the state, taking the potential threat of H5N1 avian influenza (bird flu) seriously.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)