Including Vulnerable Animals, Zoo In Chile Tests Experimental COVID Vaccine On Lions To Tigers

Lion illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Bernard DUPONT)

JAKARTA - At the Buin Zoo on the outskirts of the Chilean capital Santiago, a veterinarian wearing a tiger-striped face mask administers an experimental COVID-19 vaccine to a tiger in a cage, as other zoo workers feed the animal pieces of raw meat through a pair of tongs. long.

Buin Zoo, like others around the world, is trying to keep its animals safe from the coronavirus. The zoo administers experimental formulas donated by global animal health company Zoetis Inc for the 10 most vulnerable animals, zoo director Ignacio Idalsoaga said.

On Monday this week, a number of animals such as lions, tigers, pumas and even orangutans received the vaccine.

"We are using experimental vaccines that will give short term results which in turn will allow us to develop vaccines that are not on the market today," said Idalsoaga, citing Reuters December 16.

"This is the first dose produced worldwide, which will allow scientific accuracy and then allow mass production to protect every animal from a deadly virus in zoos like ours."

Buin Zoo started looking for ways to keep its animals safe after learning they, like humans, were vulnerable to the coronavirus.

"We got our first clue from a gorilla at (the zoo) San Diego," said Idalsoaga. Buin Zoo contacted Zoetis, who donated the 20 doses the Chilean zoo used on Monday for its most vulnerable animal, the big cat.

"We vaccinated three tigers, three lions, three pumas and our orangutan, because great apes are also susceptible to this," he said.

After conducting and publishing research on dogs and cats last year, Zoetis is testing vaccines at various zoos, mainly in the United States, said Cristian Dunivicher, veterinary technician at Zoetis.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the risk of animals spreading the coronavirus to humans is low, but the virus can spread from humans to animals during close contact.