In a recent incident in Kanha, where a tigress and all four of her cubs died due to a deadly disease called the canine distemper virus, it is a communicable animal disease, along with the death of an elephant in Bandhavgarh, a suspected case of anthrax raised questions about wildlife health management in our protected areas.
These two national parks are also a tiger reserve and are known as two of the best-managed parks in Asia. They are known for their conservation of tigers, which have a high density along with other endangered and vulnerable wildlife.
Wildlife conservation efforts address not only poaching and habitat loss but also invisible threats, such as infectious diseases that spread from humans or domestic animals living in close proximity to wildlife. Regular monitoring of the health of wild animals is required to help prevent epidemics or communicable diseases, especially when they come from domestic animals in nearby villages.
The Recent Kanha Incident
Kanha Tiger Reserve, one of the most famous and well-managed national parks of Asia, is known for its conservation of endangered species like tigers and rugged ground Barasingha. Being an old national park, Kanha has a rich history of conserving wildlife. The first wildlife scientific study in India was conducted in Kanha in the late 60s by famous wildlife scientist Dr. George Schaller.
But the recent news about the death of five tigers in Kanha has appalled the whole wildlife conservation community and enthusiasts all over the world.
The timeline of the whole incident is as given below:
A tiger cub around 10-11 months of age was found dead on April 21 near Amahi Nullah in the core zone of the Kanha Tiger Reserve. After three days, on April 24, a partially decomposed body of another cub from the same litter was recovered from Itaware Nullah, again in the core zone of the reserve. Next in the series, another cub was found dead on April 26.
The forest department was worried about finding the reason for the death of the cubs; they started intensive patrolling to find the tigress, the mother of the cubs. She was found the next day on April 27. She was found in a visibly weak and ailing condition with her only remaining cub.
After being saved, she was taken to the Mukki quarantine facility. She responded to the treatment and resumed feeding on April 28, but it was a short-lived recovery; she died on 29th April along with her cubs.
The sample of all has been sent to the veterinary college of Jabalpur for further analysis, and when the report came out, everyone was shocked. It was found that the tigress and her cubs died due to a deadly virus that infects carnivores. It was CDV (Canine Distemper Virus), which was mostly spread among wild animals by domestic or stray dogs.
What is Canine Distemper Virus (CDV)?
CDV is a highly infectious viral disease that affects mainly canids, which means dog. But apart from dogs it also can affect tigers, lions, leopards, wolves, foxes and wild dogs.
The virus attacks the respiratory system, digestive system, and nervous system of the animal. Once affected, the animal show symptoms like fever, weakness, nasal discharge, difficulty in breathing, severe diarrhea and vomiting, which further leads to abnormal behaviour, stumbling, muscle twitches, paralysis and loss of fear of humans.
The disease jumps from one species to another species of carnivores unlike other deadly diseases which is a matter of concern.
CDV outbreak in India – Historical Records of Communicable Animal Diseases
This is not the first case of CDV incident in India, it was reported before also. The biggest CDV outbreak was in year 2018 when it appeared in Gir National Park, affecting the Asiatic lion population. According to the report more than 27 lions had died due to the infection. It is also mentioned that the situation was exacerbated by Babesia protozoa infection. It was believed to have spread from the stray dogs and cattle.
Later there were isolated cases of CDV reported from tigers, leopards, clouded leopards, civets, foxes, jackals and wild cats.
The major problem is the stray dog population living near the tiger reserves and national parks and many times tourists have also reported them. In Jhalana near Jaipur or in Bera near Jawai dam the stary cattle and dogs make up a considerable percentage of the diet of leopards.
An image of a tiger in Kanha National Park. (this image is for representational purposes only.)
A global wildlife threat
CDV has caused wildlife tragedies across the world. It affected more than one third of the lion population of Serengeti in Africa in year 1994. Few months ago, more than 70 captive tigers in Thailand died due to suspected CDV related infection. Other animals affected by CDV in previous years are Amur tigers, leopards, wolves, giant pandas etc. This clearly shows that wildlife diseases are now a global conservation challenge.
Another threat: A warning from Bandhavgarh
Just 7-8 days before a camp elephant named ‘Gayatri’ in Bandhavgarh died and the forest department suspected it a case of anthrax. The forest department has sanitized around 50-meter area where this elephant was kept so that other animals don’t get the infection.
Anthrax is an infectious disease and unlike CDV it is caused by a bacteria called “Bacillus anthracis”. It affects wild and domestic cattle and can transmit disease to humans as well. The major symptoms are itchy bumps on skin, chills, severe difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. This being another high-risk wildlife communicable disease, is a major issue for conservation.
What should we do?
Now in rapidly changing world with new and various conservation challenges there is an urgent need to monitor the wildlife population for health-related issues, which would involve:
- Monitoring diseases
- Managing stray dog populations around forests
- Strengthening veterinary surveillance
- Rapid disease testing
- Improving biosecurity inside reserves
- Vaccinating domestic animals near protected areas
We have already doubled the number of tigers in India and the only country in the world outside Africa where wild lions roam. We are third in position in terms of the number of snow leopards in wild and recently we have re-introduced cheetah in their previous stronghold.
There are own challenges in managing such a wonderful array of wildlife which includes big cats. India led the way to form an alliance for the conservation of big cats in the world. International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) summit started yesterday in Delhi with formal launch of website and logo by the minister of environment, forests and climate change.
Being a world leader in conservation of big cats and having 5 big cats out of seven, we have more responsibility to work for their conservation and the formation of IBCA is one of the steps governments of India has taken. It will help with cross border coordination for the conservation and is also a common platform for sharing resources related to big cat conservation.
Mr. Vibhav Srivastava is a trained wildlife expert and ecotourism specialist. He has more than 20 years of experience in wildlife research, forest management, conservation education, and sustainable tourism in India.
He works at Tiger Safari India, where he plans exciting wildlife tours, helps spread conservation messages, and creates simple educational programs.
He has worked in all major wildlife areas across Central, Northern, Eastern, and Southern India. His key work includes tiger monitoring across the country with the Wildlife Institute of India, community conservation projects, and training forest staff and nature guides.
He has worked with many groups like RARE India, New Delhi Zoo, Le Passage to India, and Tiger Protection Group. He also served as Chief Naturalist at Kanha National Park.
He is a good teacher and speaker. He has given more than 30 talks at top universities like Delhi University, BHU, Amity University, and IITTM on wildlife protection, ecotourism, and sustainability.
He has written books and scientific papers, and has spoken at national conferences. His focus is always on connecting real science with local communities and responsible tourism.
He has a Master’s degree in Botany and special training from the Wildlife Institute of India. He was also chosen as one of the top five naturalists in India for the TOFT Best Naturalist Award.
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