Photo: Piroschka van de Wouw/AFP/Getty
Denver Zoo in Colorado, Oakland Zoo in California, Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin, and the Henry Vilas Zoo in Wisconsin are among the numerous zoos that recently announced they would also be vaccinating their animals.
Zoetis donated more than 11,000 doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine for animals to about 70 zoos, sanctuaries, conservatories, academic institutions, and governmental operations, the company said in anews release.
Bear and cubs.LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty
Larsen added, “We’re concerned about the animals' overall populations and long-term survival on the plane. There’s been concern about wild populations of these animals, some of the last on earth, and what may happen when the virus gets into these animals. We’re just trying to do the best we can.”
The Oakland Zooannouncedon July 2 that they received their first shipment of vaccines on June 29 and started using it on “their highest at-risk animals,” which include tigers, black bears, grizzly bears, mountain lions, and ferrets. Next, they plan to vaccinate primates and fruit bats.
Zoo officials at the Milwaukee County Zoo told the Associated Press on Wednesday about their decision to use the experimental drug.
The Milwaukee County Zoo spokeswoman Jennifer Diliberti-Shea noted that their animals routinely get vaccines when new diseases emerge. “That’s something that our animal care team does for various diseases. Obviously, with COVID-19, we were waiting until there was a vaccine that we could give them,” shesaid.
At fellow Wisconsin zoo Henry Vilas, deputy director Joseph DarcangelotoldWisconsin Public Radio News that the zoo plans to first administer the Zoetis COVID-19 vaccine to great apes, tigers, and lions — and members of the mustelid family, including otters, skunks and badgers.
In February, four orangutans and five bonobos under the care of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance each received two doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine designed for animals, Nadine Lamberski, the chief conservation and wildlife health officer at theSan Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, toldNationalGeographic.
Gorilla.SVEN HOPPE/AFP/Getty
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The decision to acquire the vaccine came one month after a troop ofeight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first known great apes in the world to contract the virus.
“This isn’t the norm. In my career, I haven’t had access to an experimental vaccine this early in the process and haven’t had such an overwhelming desire to want to use one,” Laberski said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionconfirmedthat the virus could “spread from people to animals in some situations, especially during close contact,” but it is still learning about the link.
source: people.com
