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CREATURE CARE
In January, eight gorillas at the
San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in
California, became the first great
apes to test positive for COVID-19.
“There was immediate concern,”
Nadine Lamberski told TIME for
Kids. She’s the chief conservation
and wildlife health officer at the
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
“We wanted to take all precautions
to make sure that didn’t happen
again.”
So Lamberski made a decision.
In February, she gave nine other
great apes an experimental COVID-
19 vaccine. Those nine became
the first zoo animals in the United
States to get the vaccine. Since then,
shots have been shipped out to zoo
animals in 27 states.REDUCING RISK
Lamberski got the COVID-19 vaccine
from Zoetis, a company that makes
medications for animals. Scientists
there began developing a COVID-HISTORIC APE Karen, an orangutan at the San Diego Zoo,
was one of the first great apes to receive a COVID-19 shot.SHOT TIME Michael Adkesson vaccinates a sloth at the
Brookfield Zoo on September 7.6
Zoos in the United States are protecting their
animals with a COVID-19 vaccine.vaccine for dogs and cats in 2020.
That was after a dog in Hong Kong
tested positive for the virus. Now
the company reports that its vaccine
is safe for other animals, too.
So far, Zoetis has donated its
vaccine to nearly 70 zoos in the U.S.
“We continue to receive numerous
requests,” Mahesh Kumar says.
He’s a senior vice president at the
company.
According to Lamberski, zoos
are requesting the vaccine because
their animals are at risk of con-
tracting the virus from visitors and
caretakers. “Animals in zoos are
exposed to hundreds, if not thou-
sands, of people a day,” Lamberski
says.GETTING THEIR SHOT
How do zoo caretakers persuade
animals to stay still for a vaccine?
“We desensitize the animal,”
Michael Adkesson says. He’s the
president and CEO of the ChicagoZoological Society, which manages
the Brookfield Zoo, in Illinois. First,
an animal is poked with a finger
in the back of the leg. The action
is repeated with a pointy object,
such as a pen. This is followed by
a poke with a syringe that doesn’t
have a sharp needle. Eventually, an
animal becomes used to the sensa-
tion and will sit still long enough to
receive the shot. And when it does,
Adkesson says, it gets “a big treat.”
At the San Diego Zoo, animals
are rewarded with a tasty snack.
“Our lions and tigers get blood-
sicles,” Lamberski says. “That’s
frozen blood and meat juices. They
really like those!”
—By Rebecca Mordechaidesensitizeverb: to cause someone
or something to be less sensitive
experimentaladjective: made or
done in order to test how something
works outTIME FOR KIDS November 12, 2021HEALTH