<p>Twenty-eight elephants have been tested for Covid-19 at a forest reserve in southern India, officials said Wednesday, after the reported death of a rare Asiatic lion from the virus.</p>.<p>In what is believed to be the first known death of an animal in India from the coronavirus, a nine-year-old lioness at a zoo in Chennai in Tamil Nadu state passed away in early June, local media reported.</p>.<p>The feline was among nine lions that had tested positive for the virus, including two who were in critical condition.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/lioness-dies-of-suspected-covid-19-eight-lions-infected-in-tamil-nadu-zoo-993755.html" target="_blank">Lioness dies of suspected Covid-19, eight lions infected in Tamil Nadu zoo</a></strong></p>.<p>"After lions in Vandalur Zoo tested positive for Covid-19, we were asked to test the camp elephants as a precautionary measure," a forest ranger at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the south of Tamil Nadu told AFP on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Nasal and anal samples were taken from 28 elephants, including two calves, on Tuesday, and sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.</p>.<p>The animals' handlers lifted their trunks to collect a sample from a nostril, according to video shared by the reserve. They also inserted swabs into the elephants' rectums.</p>.<p>The results are expected to arrive in a week.</p>.<p>"The animals had no symptoms, it was just as a precaution," the ranger said.</p>.<p>"There was no difficulty in taking the sample swabs themselves as these are all trained elephants."</p>.<p>Some 21 tigers in a zoo in the eastern state of Jharkhand underwent virus tests last week after a 10-year-old tiger with a fever died, local media reported.</p>.<p>The tiger had returned a negative rapid antigen test but officials said they were also awaiting results from an RT-PCR test, the Press Trust of India reported.</p>
<p>Twenty-eight elephants have been tested for Covid-19 at a forest reserve in southern India, officials said Wednesday, after the reported death of a rare Asiatic lion from the virus.</p>.<p>In what is believed to be the first known death of an animal in India from the coronavirus, a nine-year-old lioness at a zoo in Chennai in Tamil Nadu state passed away in early June, local media reported.</p>.<p>The feline was among nine lions that had tested positive for the virus, including two who were in critical condition.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/lioness-dies-of-suspected-covid-19-eight-lions-infected-in-tamil-nadu-zoo-993755.html" target="_blank">Lioness dies of suspected Covid-19, eight lions infected in Tamil Nadu zoo</a></strong></p>.<p>"After lions in Vandalur Zoo tested positive for Covid-19, we were asked to test the camp elephants as a precautionary measure," a forest ranger at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the south of Tamil Nadu told AFP on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Nasal and anal samples were taken from 28 elephants, including two calves, on Tuesday, and sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.</p>.<p>The animals' handlers lifted their trunks to collect a sample from a nostril, according to video shared by the reserve. They also inserted swabs into the elephants' rectums.</p>.<p>The results are expected to arrive in a week.</p>.<p>"The animals had no symptoms, it was just as a precaution," the ranger said.</p>.<p>"There was no difficulty in taking the sample swabs themselves as these are all trained elephants."</p>.<p>Some 21 tigers in a zoo in the eastern state of Jharkhand underwent virus tests last week after a 10-year-old tiger with a fever died, local media reported.</p>.<p>The tiger had returned a negative rapid antigen test but officials said they were also awaiting results from an RT-PCR test, the Press Trust of India reported.</p>