Following the recent suspected deaths of a tigress and her four cubs (T-141) in Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha Tiger Reserve due to Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has issued emergency guidelines to all tiger-range states. However, spreading of this virus in a state like Maharashtra will be disastrous as venturing of big cats like tigers and leopards close to human settlements is very often. “It is a very serious and emerging conservation concern for Maharashtra, especially because the State holds one of India’s largest inter-connected populations of tigers and leopards living close to dense human settlements. The increasing overlap between big cats and free-ranging dogs creates an ideal pathway for spillover of CDV,” said Sunil Limaye, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Government of Maharashtra, to ‘The Hitavada’. CDV is not merely a dog disease.

 

It is a highly contagious viral infection capable of affecting many wild carnivores, including tigers, leopards, lions, fox, jackals, civets, and dholes. Once it enters the nervous system, it can cause fatal neurological disease, abnormal behaviour, loss of fear, respiratory illness, and immune suppression. “For Maharashtra, the risk becomes particularly alarming because leopards and tigers frequently prey upon stray dogs around villages, sugarcane fields, garbage dumps, and forest fringes. Free-ranging dog populations are extremely high around protected landscapes,” warned Limaye. Maharashtra’s leopard population often survives within human-dominated mosaics rather than deep wilderness alone. Corridors between forests allow movement of infected carnivores across large regions. This repeated predator-dog interaction creates a constant viral bridge between domestic animals and wild carnivores, the former PCCF added.

 

“The issue is therefore not only about wildlife disease — it is about landscape ecology, unmanaged dog population, waste management, habitat fragmentation, and the growing compression of wilderness into human space,” Limaye added. In the modern Anthropocene, sometimes the greatest threat to a tiger is no longer the hunter with a gun — but a virus carried silently by the village dog sleeping beside our doorstep, said Limaye. Dr Rajendra Mahajan, city-based senior veterinarian, claimed that, CDV posed more danger to those species, which are on the verge of extinction. Uncontrolled spreading of this virus will lead to extinction of critically endangered species in our forests. According to him, this virus outbreak first took place in 2003 in Siberian tiger or Amur tiger in Russia. It also spread among wild animals in India, Nepal and Indonesia. “India is going through this virus exactly after 23 years now and ignorance may cause mass wildlife deaths,” claimed Dr Mahajan. The veterinarian also informed that this virus impacts in case of direct contact with infected animals and to tigers or leopards devouring them. 

 

The recent deaths of a tigress and her four cubs at Kanha Tiger Reserve due to suspected CDV sent shockwaves among wildlife authorities, prompting Maharashtra to immediately order mass vaccination drives for stray and domestic dogs around tiger reserves. According to Dr Prabhunath Shukla, Field Director, Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), “We are taking the virus seriously and as per the guidelines of NTCA, we have started 100 per cent immunisation of stray dogs residing in forest fringes. Also, we are in the process of collecting serum for serotyping to detect the presence of any virus.”He also informed that, 100 per cent castration is also underway to manage population of stray dogs residing near TATR. Along with TATR, other tiger reserves, including Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Umred Paoni Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary (UPKWS), Bor Tiger Reserve (BTR), Navegaon Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) and Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) are also taking precautions as per the NTCA guidelines. Along with this, Gorewada Rescue Centre, Gorewada Zoo, Maharajbag Zoo and Transit Treatment Centre are also undertaking disinfection in their premises to avoid the spread of virus.