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REPORTS IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AND ELSEWHERE OF 8 BIG CATS IN THE BRONX ZOO, NY, GETTING COVID19 (THEY HAVE SINCE RECOVERED) PROVE THAT FELINES CAN GET INFECTED.

Kolkata – The Zoological Garden, Alipore (also informally called the Alipore Zoo or Calcutta Zoo) is India's oldest formally stated zoological park (as opposed to Royal and British menageries) and a big tourist attraction in Kolkata, West Bengal. It has been open as a zoo since 1876, and covers 18.811 ha (46.48 acres) and is home to 1266 animals of 108 different species. The Zoo attracts 3 million visitors annually.

It has been over two months (since the lockdown began on 25 March 2020) that this facility has been closed to the public. While most would think the animals are quite happy, without the human pests - er, guests – visiting their home, actually it’s a mixed bag.

Zoo Director Samanta says that they’re taking all the precautions for themselves as well as the animals, in lieu of the COVID19 pandemic. Reports in National Geographic and elsewhere of 8 big cats in the Bronx Zoo, NY, getting COVID19 (they have since recovered) prove that felines can get infected. (Two domestic cats in New York also tested positive) Zoo Keepers maintain distance while working, and go through a thermal scan daily; so far there is nothing to indicate any animal is in danger from the Corona virus.

Zoo Director Mr. Asis Kumar Samanta says that Babu the chimpanzee who is one of the main attractions of the zoo, (and the Zoo director’s personal favourite,) has been looking depressed since the beginning of the lockdown as he is accustomed to visitors throughout the year, who treat him like a star. He used to love performing his antics for the crowds but now all he mostly does is sleep and look blankly and despondently at zoo keepers when they approach him.

As in humans, depression can lead to illness, so in order to cheer up Babu, Samanta himself, along with other zoo workers get close to the primates enclosure and starts talking to him along with loud cheering and claps from everybody, which cheers up Babu to such an extent that he has started running around and throwing soil clods at them - which apparently indicates very positive body language! The Zoo Director decided to do this everyday to keep Babu's spirits high.

Predictably, the other animals are really happy – or at least unconcerned - with silence of the lockdown, as there are no human interactions except for the zoo keepers. Zoo authorities say that they are let out of their cages in the morning and the animals are fitter now, as they are stress-free and can be out of their cages more. They take longer walks and naps outside and only get back to their shelters after dark.

Another proof of them being stress-free is that the bowel movements of animals like apes and elephants have become more frequent – and they are drinking more water. Even the big cats are more playful and appear calmer. The keepers say their aggression has gone down.

Zoo Story

REPORTS IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AND ELSEWHERE OF 8 BIG CATS IN THE BRONX ZOO, NY, GETTING COVID19 (THEY HAVE SINCE RECOVERED) PROVE THAT FELINES CAN GET INFECTED.