Canine distemper: Corbett tigers at risk as dogs not vaccinated

A DEATH OF LEOPARD RECENTLY HAS SENT AUTHORITIES INTO A TIZZY

DEHRADUN: A leopard died of canine distemper – a contagious viral illness – at Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), officials said even as sources claimed that a tiger, infected by the virus, also perished last year.

Canine distemper affects dogs, and certain wildlife species. Unvaccinated puppies and nonimmunised older dogs tend to be more susceptible to the disease. The virus is spread through the air and by contact with an infected animal, experts say.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) sat on a recommendation to sterilise stray dogs moving around the reserve. After conducting a survey in Ramnagar area adjoining Corbett in September 2015, Humane Society International (HSI), a non-governmental organisation, found that of the 17,061 dogs moving in the vicinity of the reserve, 13,378 -- nearly 70% -were not vaccinated.

The report, submitted to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, recommended sterilisation of the dogs, but it was not considered as the Authority was upset with the NGO for making the figures public before submission. Since then no steps had been taken to regulate the stray dog population, which could have major implications on Corbett tigers -- 215 according to the All India Tiger Estimation 2015.

The recent incident of a leopard catching the virus was reported from Maidawan range of the reserve.

Highly-placed sources said a tiger had also died of the infectious virus last year.

“A leopard and a tiger have died of canine distemper. There’s no outbreak, but certainly it rings alarm bells,” a source told Hindustan Times.

Corbett director Surendra Mehra rejected the claim, saying, “There was a leopard whose postmortem report revealed that it had canine distemper. We don’t have any records of tiger casualty because of the virus so far.”

Stray dog strerilisation has become a trickier task for local bodies. HSI has been conducting an animal birth control (ABC) programme in Dehradun and Nainital, but at other places, there’s hardly any strategy to deal with the problem.

“Sterilisation should be planned by local bodies; it is not the mandate of tiger reserves,” Mehra said.

HSI has completed one season of the ABC programme at Nainital while it is going on in Dehradun. “We are doing ABC programme in two places. Certainly, places like Haridwar and Ramnagar are sensitive where the government should take up a project as they have tiger reserves and the canine population could pose danger to big cats,” HSI project manager Srikant Verma said.