�Bhopal: Mass vaccination of stray dogs in and around Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya Pradesh has begun amid the threat of the spread of canine distemper virus (CDV) infection in the wild animals of the PTR, a senior forest officer said on Saturday.
The initiative was launched on Friday owing to detection of prevalence of canine distemper virus in some stray dogs in and around the PTR, field director of PTR, Anjana Suchita Tirkey, told this newspaper.
Around 1150 stray dogs in 36 forested villages located in the buffer zone of PTR will be vaccinated over the next three and half months in two phases, she added.
The CDV is a highly contagious and potentially fatal viral disease that affects a dog’s respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems.
According to the PTR field director, one tiger and two leopards had died in the reserve due to the CDV in 2015.
“We cannot take risk after finding the prevalence of the virus in some dogs and hence, we have launched the initiative to vaccinate the stray dogs in and around PTR to protect the wild animals from the infection of the virus”, the forest officer said.
The PTR now has 62 tigers and over 500 leopards, according to the forest officer.
The reserve shot into limelight by successfully reintroducing tigers after the big cat population was wiped out by poaching in 2009.
The Panna Tiger Project began with the relocation of three tigers: two tigresses from Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks and one male tiger from Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
In the next six years, three female tigers and one male tiger were relocated to the PTR from other national parks in Madhya Pradesh.
The tiger population in the PTR has grown from zero in 2009 to 62 now.
