... there’s testing a tigerrrrrrr
BRIDGEPORT — While the state tentatively plans to start to reopen places including the state’s only zoo in the coming weeks, staff at the Beardsley Zoo are prepared should an animal at the facility be infected with COVID-19.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced in late April that some establishments, ranging from zoos with outdoor exhibits to restaurants with outdoor seating, can reopen on May 20 — so long as Connecticut doesn’t see a surge in cases or hospitalizations.
For the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, staff have been prepared to reopen since the facility closed to visitors because of the new coronavirus back in March, according to zoo Director Gregg Dancho.
“We have to do it the right way when we reopen,” he said during a recent interview. “It’s still very tentative.”
But while planning for a reopening is difficult enough, Dancho said, the facility’s staff also has to continue to care for its animals, knowing that some cats at another facility have tested positive for the virus after showing symptoms.
Dancho said the Bridgeport zoo — which has many big cats including two Amur tigers and two Amur leopards — immediately had staffers working with the big cats don additional protective gear when news spread that a tiger at the
Bronx Zoo in New
York had tested positive for COVID-19.
The Bronx Zoo confirmed on April
5 that 4-year-old
Nadia, a Malayan tiger, had been infected with the new coronavirus.
She was the first animal to show symptoms, the zoo said in a statement.
Samples were collected from
Nadia’s nose, throat and respiratory tract while under anesthesia, the Bronx Zoo said. Those samples were tested and she was confirmed to be infected with the
virus.
Nadia’s sister Azul, two Amur tigers and three African lions at the New York City zoo also developed a dry cough, the zoo said. Fecal samples were collected from the six big cats; they all tested positive.
The zoo said the animals saw “some decrease in appetite” and a cough — although one tiger never developed a cough but did test positive for the virus.
So far, no animals at the Bridgeport zoo have exhibited COVID-19 symptoms.
To help care for all the zoo’s animals, Beardsley has a full-time veterinarian technician who has worked with the zoo for years, doing rounds twice a week. Dancho said one of the most important aspects of zoo operations behind the scenes is preventative medicine.
“Testing is always a big thing for us,” he said.
Dancho said staffers collect fecal samples to check for illnesses like worms, and blood samples to test for things like anemia. He said testing is also done for rabies and tuberculosis.
“Every animal at the zoo has some kind of examination at least once a year,” Dancho said.
Sometimes those exams can be visual to check for behavioral or diet changes, while others are more physical and require tranquilization or anesthesia at the zoo’s on-site animal care center — which serves as a fully-equipped veterinarian hospital with X-ray machines, holding rooms, a treatment room and an operating room.
Being a long-time accredited member of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums and caring for various threatened species, Beardsley Zoo staffers are always on high alert for any changes in the facility’s animals.
“We’re watching these animals all the time,” Dancho said. “When something is off, the staff knows immediately.”
If one of the big cats at the zoo started to develop symptoms linked to the new coronavirus, Dancho said, staffers would keep a closer eye on the animal for a few days to see if the behavior or symptoms continues. If so, then staffers would prepare for testing.
“We would have to tranquilize the animal, especially with tigers,” Dancho said.
But since the tigers are conditioned through training to walk into a crate to be brought to the zoo’s animal care center, he said, they wouldn’t necessarily have to be tranquilized in their habitat, which can cause stress.
He said if an animal showed signs of the new coronavirus, the zoo would run a full workup as a precaution.
For now, he said, the zoo will continue to take additional precautions until the pandemic passes. “Our staff is gowned up, masks on, gloves on,” Dancho said. “They are monitoring the health and welfare of the animals every day.”