Asiatic lions in Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad tested covid positive after which the Union Forest Ministry issued directives for the closure of all the national parks and sanctuaries across India.

The wildlife veterinarians noticed covid like symptoms including nasal discharge, loss of appetite and coughing in the lions in the park. The RT-PCR tests proved that the lions were covid positive after which all the wardens were asked to be on alert.

Dasgupta, the assistant director general of forest-wild life said that the lions have been infected with the old mutation and not the new one.

The scientists will now do a genome sequencing to find out if the strain came from human beings or animals.