Safety Measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 to Wildlife

Safety Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to Wildlife, as tension continues to grow in the world, everything seems to be paralysed, from businesses and travel. There is so much concern about what will happen to wildlife if this novel coronavirus spreads to them. Different stakeholders are more concerned with the life of the endangered Mountain gorillas that have increased in the past years.

The virus seems to spare none if it spreads to wildlife; therefore, there is so much concern on going that if travellers from the affected countries come for gorilla safaris, definitely the growing population of mountain gorillas may get affected in the long run.

The governments were quick to respond to this alarm through their governing bodies, Uganda Wildlife Authority in Uganda, Rwanda Development board, Virunga.org, and other conservation authorities like Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund have designed and formulated several safety measures that will guide tourists in regards to protect both humans and wildlife against the pandemic Coronavirus.

Some of the safety measures taken by authorities to protect & prevent the spread of COVID-19 to Wildlife include;

The government of Uganda has established a complete checkup of every entrant in the country for COVID-19 at every border entry point. After the country confirmed a case of coronavirus, the government went ahead and stopped all incoming flights except Cargo in order to monitor the situation.

The same situation applies to the neighbour in Rwanda, and if one tests positive for COVID-19, the infected person is isolated for further monitoring before they fully access the country, as well as its other resources like wildlife.

The government of Uganda restricted travel to and from countries that are already affected by the Coronavirus in order to control its importation into the country. The countries were categorised into 3 depending on the severity of the outbreak in such countries.

Category 1: Travellers from countries like China, Belgium, Austria, Italy, South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Malaysia, among others, have been advised to postpone their travel to Uganda. Those who insist on coming will be subjected to 14 days quarantine at their own cost. This also includes tourists who intend to visit several wildlife destinations, including trekking with gorillas.

The other countries named in categories 3 and 3 were not yet infected; however, they were all to go through routine screening.

• The government of Uganda, through Uganda Wildlife Authority, advised all travellers who have been banned from travelling with already confirmed bookings to postpone their travel up to 2021.
• Primate tourism in regard to this, including mountain gorilla tracking, chimpanzee tracking, and golden monkey tracking, has been suspended until 30th April, with the hope that the situation will be managed.
• All intending trackers will be provided with the necessary PPE to avoid passing on any possible infections to the primates.
• All Wildlife authorities and staff have been directed to be vigilant and adhere to the national guidelines, social distancing, as well put wash their hands before and after monitoring wildlife as it has before.
• In Rwanda, all staff working with wildlife at all national parks, including rangers, vets and trackers, are all tested and given protective gear like gloves for both their protection and that of animals.
• Other measures include limiting the time that both the wildlife staff and the tourists have been spending in the presence of animals. The distance between humans and animals is also strongly emphasised to limit any chance of virus transmission to the animals.
• While in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a Temporary closure of Virunga National Park and suspension of gorilla tracking safaris until June 2020 and advising the already booked and confirmed trips to be postponed as further till June 2021
• COVID-19 is likely to be transmitted faster; therefore, the authorities have restricted the time and distance staff spend in the presence of the animals after monitoring.
• After checking on all the animals, the staff moves 100 meters away from them to maintain a protective presence.
• All field monitoring staff will be subjected to a daily checkup before and after. If anyone tests positive or with any symptoms of fever or a cold, then they will be isolated to seek medical attention.

Other measures include undertaking mandatory and regular hand washing and sanitising by all staff, placing posters that explain symptoms of COVID-19 and its control measures at several work areas to educate both staff and the community, and practising social distancing. Therefore, Community engagement programs have been suspended to minimise the risk of exposure.

In conclusion, the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic corona virus has not only raised tension to human life but also a threat to wildlife, so much research is being done on how to curb down the virus but of now the only solution is to bid to the advice from the rightful officials and stop transmitting the virus further to prevent spread of Covid-19 to Wildlife.