Zoo Vaccinates Apes To Protect Both Animals And Humans From COVID-19

[DesertRat]

When it's time to be vaccinated, the apes at the San Diego Zoo and its associated safari park sit still and allow veterinarians to inject their arms through a barrier.

"It's pretty amazing," said San Diego Zoo Safari Park director Lisa Peterson. "Our great apes are trained to participate in their own care."

On Jan. 11, a troop of eight gorillas at the safari park tested positive for the coronavirus. They were quarantined, received treatment, and are now recovering.

{snip}

The COVID-19 vaccine that the San Diego Zoo used on its apes was produced by the veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it approved the vaccine for experimental use by the zoo.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/16/975405670/zoo-vaccinates-apes-to-protect-both-animals-and-humans-from-covid-19

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. And to think, I still can't get the vaccine.

Maybe I should offer myself to be exhibited in the nearest zoo.

[moonscape]

2. I rescued a squirrel as a teenager, pushed or

fallen from the nest, and after it was grown and could manage on its own, released it in the woods behind my parents’ home when I went back to univ.

Orpheus would come to my parents balcony to visit, and in the morning my father would walk to the edge of the woods and call him. He’d come, jump on his shoulder, and go down to the pocket of his robe to get a few nuts my father had there for him.

One day during a balcony visit, my mom noticed some lumps/boils on him and called the vet for advice. He said they were likely maggots and the only way to get rid of them would be to squeeze them out. Yikes. Mom wasn’t optimistic but resolved to try. There were 5 of them.

Orpheus stayed still as Mom squeezed one out then took off. He came a couple of days later and let Mom do another. After a couple of weeks they were all out but Orpheus never came back after that. Don’t know why of course. Maybe something happened to him, or maybe though he knew he needed the help and allowed it, he was still too traumatized to return once well.