AP to close all national parks, sanctuaries

VIJAYAWADA: All national parks and wildlife sanctuaries will remain closed across Andhra Pradesh in order to avoid the spread of coronavirus from humans to animals.

Announcing the decision here on Friday, principal chief conservator of forests N. Prateep Kumar said that based on directions from the Centre, they were taking steps to close all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the state. He said that instructions were issued to forest personnel to keep a tab on the health of animals and sanitise places where they frequent. He said that directions were issued to the forest officials to keep a watch on animals 24x7 and rope in vets to attend to animals that develop health issues.

The head of forests said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and minister for forests Balineni Srinivas Reddy had issued orders to take all necessary measures to protect animals and avoid any trouble to them in the wake of the second wave of coronavirus.