Taking serious note of a tigress in a New York zoo testing positive for COVID-19, all concerned authorities in India are specially observing wild animals in captivity. The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have also written letters to the Chief Wildlife Warden of all states in India on April 6, instructing them to be on the 'highest alert' regarding zoos, and have also asked keepers/ handlers to use safety gear in animals' vicinity.

According to news reports in several leading newspapers and international magazines in the USA, a tigress at New York's Bronx Zoo has been treated for COVID-19. In the articles it has been stated that there are chances that the animal might have contracted the virus from the caretaker who was asymptomatic at the time.