In the US, big cats, bears, ferrets get experimental Covid-19 vaccine

The zoo animals are benefiting from a gift of 11,000 doses, but vaccines for pets are not recommended

The Oakland Zoo in California started this week with bears, mountain lions, tigers and ferrets, the first of about 100 animals that are set to receive an experimental vaccine against the coronavirus over the summer.

Zoetis, a veterinary pharmaceutical company, is donating 11,000 doses of the vaccine to about 70 zoos as well as sanctuaries, universities and other animal conservation sites in 27 US states, and the Oakland Zoo is one of the first to benefit. The vaccine is solely for animals, goes through a different approval process than for people, and cannot be used to protect humans.

“Our very first animals to get vaccinated at the zoo were two of our beautiful and elderly tigers,” said Alex Herman, vice president of veterinary services at the Oakland Zoo. 

The Oakland Zoo has not had any cases of animals infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid in humans. But the zoo has taken extraordinary precautions, Herman said, by requiring that keepers maintain a safe distance from the animals and wear protective equipment.

Big cats and other vulnerable animals like gorillas have, however, been infected at zoos in the United States and elsewhere. The San Diego Zoo in February vaccinated apes with the Zoetis vaccine, first tested in mink.

From the start of the pand­e­mic, pet owners, zookeepers, fur farmers and scientists all had their own particular concerns about animal infections. Pet ow­ners have worried about the hea­lth of cats and dogs, while epidemiologists and public health officials have cautioned that some animal species — domestic or wild — could become a reservoir where the virus can live and mutate even as the world tries to stamp it down in people.

The US Department of Agriculture has not considered any vaccine candidates for cats or dogs, and veterinarians have consistently noted that there is no evidence that pets transmit the virus to humans.

For zoos, the question is not whether to vaccinate, but how to approach the patient when it’s a tiger. “With lots of positive reinforcement,” Herman said. The zoo trains its animals by giving them rewards to voluntarily present themselves to be jabbed. It’s pretty much the same idea as getting a lollipop after a shot, although the animals seem more willing to volunteer than humans.

“The tiger leans against the fence,” Herman said. “The thousand-pound grizzly bear leans against the fence.”

Good tiger. Good bear.

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