Barrie 
The Toronto Zoo is vaccinating animals in its care against COVID-19.
Credit: Toronto Zoo/YouTube
Canada’s largest zoo has begun the process of vaccinating COVID-19 susceptible animals with COVID-19 vaccines for animals, developed and donated by Zoetis.
The animals vaccinated so far include tigers, red pandas and grizzly bears.
The zoo through social media said animals chose to be vaccinated through voluntary positive reinforcement training that the Wildlife Care staff of the zoo have been working on with their animals “for many years and has been an integral step in ensuring the vaccine rollout results in minimal stress and disruption to the animals’ routines.”
Through the video shared on social media, you can see that all the animals including tigers and hippos willingly stayed and presented their body for vaccination. The zoo says this is part of their regular training exercises with their keepers and animals are rewarded with desirable treats for their participation.
The zoo uses this method to encourage animals to participate in regular X-rays, blood draws and hoof trimming, which allows the keepers and veterinary team to monitor their health regularly without causing the animals any undue stress.
Toronto Zoo is administering COVID-19 vaccines to 120 animals, and each animal will receive two doses at an interval of about two-three weeks.
The zoo says the list of animal species chosen to administer the vaccine was decided based on the COVID-19 sensitivity list that has been developed through ongoing research and reports of positive cases in other zoos.
Dolf DeJong, CEO of Toronto Zoo said in a statement, “We are happy to report we have had no positive cases in any of our animals throughout this pandemic and being able to add this extra layer of protection allows us to continue doing everything we can to provide them with the highest level of protection and medical care.”
“We have an incredible team here at the Toronto Zoo and it’s been amazing to watch the care and commitment that goes into training many of these animals to participate in their own healthcare”.
Toronto Zoo is one of Canada’s leading teams in conservation.
You can support Toronto Zoo conservation efforts by making a donation to the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy, or through the Adopt an Animal program.
