Gorillas test positive for coronavirus at San Diego zoo

It is believed to be the first known coronavirus case among great apes
April Roach @aprilroach2812 January 2021

Several gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for coronavirus.

Lisa Peterson, the park’s executive director, confirmed that eight gorillas that live together at the park are believed to have the virus and several have been coughing.

The gorillas’ faeces were tested and the US Department of Agriculture National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed positive Covid-19 tests for three of the gorillas. 

The park explained that because Gorilla troops live together the zookeepers have to assume that all members of the family group have been exposed to the virus.

The cases are believed to be the first known cases among apes in the US and possibly the world.

It appears the infection came from a member of the park’s wildlife care team who also tested positive for the virus but has been asymptomatic and wore a mask at all times around the gorillas.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park has been closed to the public since December 6 as part of California’s lockdown efforts to curb coronavirus cases.

Veterinarians are closely monitoring the gorillas and they will remain in their habitat at the park, north of San Diego, Ms Peterson said.

For now, they are being given vitamins, fluid and food but no specific treatment for the virus.

“Aside from some congestion and coughing, the gorillas are doing well,” Ms Peterson told the Associated Press.

While other wildlife has contracted the coronavirus from minks to tigers, this is the first known instance of transmission to such primates and it is unknown if they will have any serious reaction.

Wildlife experts have expressed concern about the coronavirus infecting gorillas, an endangered species that share 98.4 per cent of their DNA with humans and are inherently social animals.

The gorillas infected at the San Diego safari park are western lowland gorillas, whose population has declined by more than 60 per cent over the last two decades because of poaching and disease, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Zoo officials are talking to experts who have been treating the coronavirus in humans in case the animals develop more severe symptoms.

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They will remain together since separating them could be harmful to the gorillas that live in tight-knit groups.

“This is wildlife, and they have their own resiliency and can heal differently than we do,” Ms Peterson added.

The safari park on Monday added more safety measures for its staff, including requiring face shields and eye goggles when working in contact with the animals.

The confirmation that gorillas are susceptible to the coronavirus contributes to information about how the pandemic may affect these species in their native habitats where they come into contact with humans and human materials, the park officials said.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park plans to share what it learns with health officials, conservationists and scientists to develop steps to protect gorillas in the forests of Africa.

Additional reporting by Associated Press.

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