SAN DIEGO (AP) – Several gorillas at San Diego Zoo Safari Park have 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.
The park’s executive director, Lisa Peterson, told The Associated Press on Monday that eight gorillas living together in the park are said to have the virus and have coughed several.
It appears that the infection came from a member of the park’s conservation team who also tested positive for the virus but was asymptomatic and always wore a mask around the gorillas. The park has been closed to the public since December 6 as part of the state of California’s lockdown efforts to curb coronavirus cases.
Vets will keep a close eye on the gorillas, and they will stay in their habitat in the park, north of San Diego, Peterson said. For the time being they are given vitamins, fluids and food, but no specific treatment for the virus.
“Aside from some congestion and coughing, the gorillas are doing well,” said Peterson.
While other wildlife has contracted the coronavirus from mink to tigers, this is the first known case of transmission to great apes and it is not known if they will have a serious response.
Nature experts have raised concerns about the coronavirus infecting gorillas, an endangered species that shares 98.4 percent of their DNA with humans and is inherently social animals.
The gorillas infected in San Diego safari park are western lowland gorillas, whose populations have declined by more than 60% over the past two decades due to poaching and disease, the World Wildlife Fund said.
The safari park tested the gorilla troop droppings after two monkeys started coughing on January 6. Positive test results were confirmed by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Veterinary Services Laboratories on three gorillas. Feces from all eight in the troop are taken for testing.
Zoo officials are talking to experts who have treated coronavirus in humans in case the animals develop more severe symptoms. They will stick together, as separating them can harm the gorillas that live in close-knit groups.
“These are wildlife, and they have their own resilience and can heal differently than we do,” Peterson said.
The safari park added more safety measures for staff on Monday, including mandating face protection and goggles when working in contact with the animals.
Confirmation that gorillas are susceptible to the coronavirus adds to information about how the pandemic may affect these species in their native habitats, where they come into contact with humans and human material, 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 Africa’s forests.