The nation’s zoo animals are now getting more than their usual allotment of food and water each day. Like their human counterparts, they are being immunized against the Coronavirus.
Spurred on by reports of infections in tigers and apes, veterinarians are administering an experimental vaccine developed by Zoetis, a drug company specializing in animal care.
Zoetis is distributing more than 11,000 doses of the drug free of charge to 70 zoos, animal sanctuaries and other institutions. The drug was originally developed for cats and dogs and is now authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a case-by-case basis.
Despite being kept at a distance from the public, some zoo animals have caught COVID-19. Big cats at the Bronx Zoo became infected in April of 2020 and in June, two tigers died after testing positive for the virus at a zoo in India, according to the National Geographic.
An outbreak among a gorilla troop in February at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park prompted officials to request the vaccine which was administered there to 266 animals including lions, tigers, bears and hyenas.
Veterinarians at the Oakland Zoo begin vaccinating tigers, black bears, mountain lions, ferrets and chimpanzees in June. None of the animals showed COVID-19 symptoms, so the treatment was considered preventative.
Some animals are now receiving their second injection and haven’t experienced any side effects with the exception of one bear who had slight irritation at the injection site, but is fine, said zoo spokeswoman Erin Harrison.
News of the Oakland vaccinations sparked a flurry of protests from anti-vaxxers who berated the zoo for experimenting on their furry charges. Many vowed to retaliate by contacting the animal advocacy group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The zoo’s leadership fought back with a strongly worded July 8 statement, pointing out that all COVID-19 vaccines were considered experimental because the virus broke out two years ago so no long-term studies were available.
“Development studies by Zoetis demonstrated the vaccines to be safe and have a reasonable expectation of efficacy in mounting an immune response in cats and dogs,” it said. “There were no adverse reactions when the vaccine was administered to cats and dogs.”
“If you know the Oakland Zoo, you know that nothing is more important to us that the health and safety of our animals, and the decision to vaccinate them against the COVID-19 and the Delta variant along with the demonstrated safety of the vaccine itself, is based on that. We do not experiment on our animals.”
PETA also came to the zoo’s defense with its own announcement pointing out that the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh the risks of COVID-19 infection.
Vaccinating animals against the virus is an important element in the battle to control COVID-19 worldwide.
Outbreaks have been rampant among minks raised commercially for their lustrous pelts. More that 12,000 of this nation’s three million minks have died from COVID-19 along with thousands in Denmark and the Netherlands.
Scientists fear that because the virus can be transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa, failure to treat an infected species could serve as a kind of viral reservoir prolonging the pandemic for years to come.
Spurred on by reports of infections in tigers and apes, veterinarians are administering an experimental vaccine developed by Zoetis, a drug company specializing in animal care.
Zoetis is distributing more than 11,000 doses of the drug free of charge to 70 zoos, animal sanctuaries and other institutions. The drug was originally developed for cats and dogs and is now authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a case-by-case basis.
Despite being kept at a distance from the public, some zoo animals have caught COVID-19. Big cats at the Bronx Zoo became infected in April of 2020 and in June, two tigers died after testing positive for the virus at a zoo in India, according to the National Geographic.
An outbreak among a gorilla troop in February at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park prompted officials to request the vaccine which was administered there to 266 animals including lions, tigers, bears and hyenas.
Veterinarians at the Oakland Zoo begin vaccinating tigers, black bears, mountain lions, ferrets and chimpanzees in June. None of the animals showed COVID-19 symptoms, so the treatment was considered preventative.
Some animals are now receiving their second injection and haven’t experienced any side effects with the exception of one bear who had slight irritation at the injection site, but is fine, said zoo spokeswoman Erin Harrison.
News of the Oakland vaccinations sparked a flurry of protests from anti-vaxxers who berated the zoo for experimenting on their furry charges. Many vowed to retaliate by contacting the animal advocacy group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The zoo’s leadership fought back with a strongly worded July 8 statement, pointing out that all COVID-19 vaccines were considered experimental because the virus broke out two years ago so no long-term studies were available.
“Development studies by Zoetis demonstrated the vaccines to be safe and have a reasonable expectation of efficacy in mounting an immune response in cats and dogs,” it said. “There were no adverse reactions when the vaccine was administered to cats and dogs.”
“If you know the Oakland Zoo, you know that nothing is more important to us that the health and safety of our animals, and the decision to vaccinate them against the COVID-19 and the Delta variant along with the demonstrated safety of the vaccine itself, is based on that. We do not experiment on our animals.”
PETA also came to the zoo’s defense with its own announcement pointing out that the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh the risks of COVID-19 infection.
Vaccinating animals against the virus is an important element in the battle to control COVID-19 worldwide.
Outbreaks have been rampant among minks raised commercially for their lustrous pelts. More that 12,000 of this nation’s three million minks have died from COVID-19 along with thousands in Denmark and the Netherlands.
Scientists fear that because the virus can be transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa, failure to treat an infected species could serve as a kind of viral reservoir prolonging the pandemic for years to come.
Venom is scary but holds promise for medical treatment
An exhibit now showing at the California Academy of Sciences explores a substance most of us would rather avoid: venom.
The painful and sometimes fatal chemical found in many animals is the dark side of nature; creatures inject it into victims to keep from being killed or to subdue their prey.
But “Venom: Fangs, Stingers, and Spines” is not all bad news. The chemistry found in snakebites, for example, can lower blood pressure and researchers are finding more medicinal spinoffs from the compounds found in these toxic secretions.
Venom is defined as any poisonous compound secreted by an animal intended to harm or disable another. The substance must be injected into the victim from a stinger like a bee or sharp fangs like those found in snakes. As with so much in nature there are exceptions such as spitting snakes that can transmit deadly liquids by spitting it into the eyes of prey.
Many people use the term poisonous incorrectly to describe venomous creatures. Poisonous animals must be eaten or otherwise ingested to cause harm.
To date, between 175,000 and 200,000 venomous creatures have been identified by science. They run the gamut from spiders and scorpions, sea snakes and their terrestrial kin and even one species of octopus.
The exhibit contains a variety of venomous creatures including a jellyfish, spider, a nest of bees and even coral. It also mentions research into cures that are being found by bio medical researchers exploring the chemistry of venom.
“There are things about venom that are being explored for a wide range of therapeutics including pain killers, nervous system disorders or infections that have become resistant to traditional antibiotics,” said Lauren Esposito, an academy entomologist who is featured in the exhibit.
For more on Lauren, visit Meet the Scientists
The painful and sometimes fatal chemical found in many animals is the dark side of nature; creatures inject it into victims to keep from being killed or to subdue their prey.
But “Venom: Fangs, Stingers, and Spines” is not all bad news. The chemistry found in snakebites, for example, can lower blood pressure and researchers are finding more medicinal spinoffs from the compounds found in these toxic secretions.
Venom is defined as any poisonous compound secreted by an animal intended to harm or disable another. The substance must be injected into the victim from a stinger like a bee or sharp fangs like those found in snakes. As with so much in nature there are exceptions such as spitting snakes that can transmit deadly liquids by spitting it into the eyes of prey.
Many people use the term poisonous incorrectly to describe venomous creatures. Poisonous animals must be eaten or otherwise ingested to cause harm.
To date, between 175,000 and 200,000 venomous creatures have been identified by science. They run the gamut from spiders and scorpions, sea snakes and their terrestrial kin and even one species of octopus.
The exhibit contains a variety of venomous creatures including a jellyfish, spider, a nest of bees and even coral. It also mentions research into cures that are being found by bio medical researchers exploring the chemistry of venom.
“There are things about venom that are being explored for a wide range of therapeutics including pain killers, nervous system disorders or infections that have become resistant to traditional antibiotics,” said Lauren Esposito, an academy entomologist who is featured in the exhibit.
For more on Lauren, visit Meet the Scientists
