Several poor gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have been tested positive for the coronavirus in what are believed to be the first known cases among such primates in the United States and possibly the world as said by the zoo officials on Monday.
According to a report, as many as eight gorillas at the particular San Diego Zoo Safari Park are presumed to have contracted COVID-19 from a human handler after one of the animals tested positive.
Lisa Peterson who is the executive director of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park said The Associated Press news agency, “Aside from some congestion and coughing, the gorillas are doing well”. Veterinarians are closely monitoring the troop of western lowland gorillas. The infected animals are expected to make a full recovery, officials said.
The zoo stated, “Three animals are exhibiting symptoms like coughing. But because gorillas live together in troops, we have to assume that all members of the family group have been exposed”. Positive test results were confirmed by the US Department of Agriculture National Veterinary Services Laboratories in three gorillas. Feces from all eight in the troop are being taken for testing.
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has been temporarily closed since December 6 amid the lockdown in California, and the primate habitat where the gorillas are housed poses “no public health risk”. COVID-19 has also been found in a number of other wild-animal species in captivity, including several lions and tigers at the Bronx Zoo in New York and four lions at the Barcelona Zoo in Spain.
Sources: CNN News