New Delhi, Nov 7 (UNI) After over two months of closure, Delhi Zoo will reopen for visitors on Saturday, according to officials of the Environment Ministry. The zoo authorities stated that usual safety and preventive measures will be followed.
Following reports of the Avian influenza virus in a waterbird aviary on August 28, the facility was closed indefinitely to the public two days later. The outbreak that started in the last week of August claimed the lives of 12 birds between August 24 and September 6.
Nine painted storks and three black-headed ibis succumbed. Post-mortem reports confirmed that seven of these birds died due to the H5N1 virus.
Three other animals died in the zoo premises in the following weeks, including two Zebra finches and Shankar, the Zoo’s lone African Elephant. Shankar was the last to die at the age of 29 years.
Earlier that month, five of the six tiger cubs born to tigress Aditi did not survive, adding to concerns over animal care and disease control at the facility.
Meanwhile, after the detection of infection, the zoo authorities collected samples every fortnight to test the presence of the contagion. “All the samples from the last positive case were found negative as per the report of NIHSAD, Bhopal,” read the press note from the Ministry.
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