With the zoo shutting down for visitors since mid-March and unable to make money from ticket sales and gift shop, food and beverage purchases, management has been itching to reopen. They petitioned the Governor and managed to secure permission to reopen under certain conditions. But there has been a recent spike of COVID-19 infections in the area, and furthermore, the zoo’s history with infectious diseases is very poor.
Oregon Zoo has a poor track record with infectious diseases. Three elephants that died recently at the zoo were suffering from tuberculosis, including the iconic Packy who was euthanized when the zoo staff were not able to adequately treat the disease. Among the elephants still alive, Shine and more recently Chendra, have also undergone treatment for the disease, which was so invasive that Chendra had a miscarriage during treatment. Additionally, seven zoo employees were also infected with tuberculosis, a fact that was kept under wraps until exposed by a lawsuit.
At the Bronx Zoo, eight big cats recently tested positive for COVID-19, prompting concerns around its cross-species transmissions. We fear a similar catastrophe here, should the zoo rush to reopen. Any visitor with COVID-19 may end up infecting animals unawares since the disease is known to spread even without the spreader displaying any symptoms.
That is why FOZE held a demo at the morning of the zoo reopening day to draw attention to this risk. After all, whereas visitors can choose for themselves whether they can take the risk to go to the zoo versus staying home, zoo animals are not presented with the same choice.
You can catch a livestream of our demo here.
Image credit: Colin Durfee