Deaths from complications from coronavirus. Unfortunately, we have long been accustomed to hearing such phrases, a little less when it comes to snow leopards, a protected species of which only four thousand specimens remain in the wild.
It happened in Lincoln Park Zoo, in Nebraska, where Everest, Makalu and Ranney, three specimens of Panthera ounce (this is the scientific name) about a month after testing positive for the virus. They are feline native to the mountains of Central Asia, included among the “vulnerable” species in the lists of the International Union for the conservation of nature.
Snow leopards are not an isolated case: several animals have been infected and many have lost their lives in zoos around the world. The animals show that they are not very hungry, they breathe badly, they are weak. And then the test confirms the presence of Covid, which probably came from positive operators and guardians. In September, thirteen gorillas were infected in the Atlanta Zoo.
[[ge:rep-locali:content-hub:278537740]]But it doesn’t just happen to animals in zoos or sanctuaries. A study published in Nature reveals an infection with at least three variants of the virus that causes Covid-19 in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) who live free in six locations in northeastern Ohio, United States. The research team took nasal swabs from 360 white-tailed deer at nine different locations in the state, detecting at least three different strains of the virus in 129 (35.8%) of the deer sampled.
It is impossible today to understand how the transmission took place, according to the sequences that emerged it would be humans who infect deer, perhaps through an environmental path, probably the animals drank contaminated water. Research has shown that the virus is widespread in human feces and detectable in wastewater. However, there is no scientific evidence that infected deer can pass the virus to humans.
Returning to animals in captivity, also in the United States the government has authorized an experimental anti Covid-19 vaccine produced by Zoetis. The administration began this summer at the Oakland Zoo and will continue in at least seventy other facilities across the country. Tigers, black and grizzly bears, mountain lions, ferrets, primates are getting their first doses.
The first batch of the vaccine for animals, Carnivac-Cov, was produced in Russia, while the phase 1 trial of an anti-Covid vaccine for cats from the Italian company Evvivax has given positive results in the United States.
In Europe too, attention is high. Two hippos, Hermien and Imani, placed in solitary confinement, tested positive in the Antwerp Zoo; the animals show no symptoms of the disease other than rhinorrhea. It is the first report concerning this species, but its origin is not known because none of the caregiver of the zoo contracted the disease.
[[ge:rep-locali:content-hub:266681530]]What is the situation in Italy?
Prevention and compliance with the rules help the management of structures and animals in our country.
“Covid is one of those viruses that, albeit marginally, also affects some animal species, especially felines, great apes and mustelids, a family of carnivores that includes otters, stone martens, polecats, badgers, martens. ‘man who transmits the covid to animals and this happens when there is contiguity, a close proximity “, he explains Francesco Petretti, professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Perugia and Camerino and president of the Bioparco of Rome. “We played in advance. A white tiger, a couple of Sumatran tigers, a couple of Persian leopards, a family of Asiatic lions, chimpanzees, orangutans live at the Bioparco in Rome, and we have always faced the problem because some viruses they can be transmitted from humans to animals, regardless of Covid “.
Prevention and rules even before the pandemic broke out. “The keepers, the people who take care of the animals, always wear safety devices, not only gloves and masks, but also disinfected shoes every time they enter restricted areas”.
There is no direct contact with the public at the Bioparco because there is a glass screen, already before the epidemic, which also prevents the diffusion of particles by air. Furthermore, the animals are subjected to continuous monitoring, especially if they have undergone interventions of any kind to safeguard their health.
“When animals are close to humans, they are always the losers, we must realize that they suffer like us, they have pathologies, diseases, genetic problems. And we take care of our one thousand and eight hundred animals 100 percent”.
[[ge:rep-locali:content-hub:266655169]]“Even the visitors can still rest assured”, continues the President. The glass screen that creates the separation between man and animal has been in use for a few years. Previously there was a tendency to have direct contact. “We realized that with glass, animals have a more natural, freer and more reserved behavior. For them it means having their own space, without invasion”.
Is a glass really enough to give a feeling of detachment? “Yes, because glass acts on two of the modes of communication that are more important to animals than sight: smell and hearing. By shielding acoustic waves and smells coming from humans, they are able to perceive space more like them, with their smells and their noises “.
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