COVID-19 effects on zoos and animal conservation

The situation at the Bronx Zoo is puzzling because the cats affected are not housed anywhere near each other. You've got three sets of big cats that are each over a quarter mile apart from each other. What I don't know is whether they have the same keeper. And there's also the possibility that a supervisor or curator with contact with all three groups was the source.

 

In the zoos press release about the situation, the zoo says the cats were affected by a keeper who was asymptomatic at the time. So it's very likely that the same keeper infected all the different cats.

 

This article provides the detail that all the tigers involved are at Tiger Mountain and the ones in Wild Asia are unaffected. That still leaves the question about whether it was the same keeper for the tigers and the lions, since they are housed about a half mile apart.Bronx Zoo tiger infected with COVID-19 | Live Science

 

Large zoos tend to have keepers that specifically work with big cat (or at least carnivores in general) since they tend to have to be specially trained due to how dangerous the animals can be. The asymptomatic keeper was likely one of such keepers and was specifically assigned to the tigers and Lions (among other non-felids) that shift or perhaps in general. Either that, or the cats living along the monorail simply got lucky if the keeper cared for all of them.

~Thylo

 

Lately I have begun to see more and more zoos on social media and in news media articles asking for public donations to help them through this crisis. And while it still is mostly smaller facilities that are asking for donations, I have now also seen several larger and well-established zoological facilities doing so.

While I think the smaller institutions are likely already in trouble or getting there, I don't know why the larger facilities are starting to ask for money also. Not all large zoological organizations are in good financial shape and not all of them have large reserves, however, so some of them might also be getting in trouble soon. And if this crisis lasts much longer I'm afraid we'll be seeing even the largest and richest institutions getting in trouble economically.

Each day it also becomes clearer that the summer of 2020 will not be a normal summer. It will not be possible to roll back all containment measures by summer, even if countries succeed in containing the epidemic by that time and are on the tail end of the epidemic curve. There still will be restrictions to avoid a resurgence of Covid-19. Large, tightly packed crowds will still have to be avoided. The roll-back of the lock-down will only happen gradually. Even in the Western countries that have begun to implement roll-back plans (Austria and Denmark) there is so far no information on the reopening of zoos and the come-back of tourism. In China it took three to four months I believe for zoos to reopen, but I'm not sure if China is a good example for how things could work out in the West.

In several countries large events during the summer months (like music festivals) are now already being cancelled or banned (or there are calls to do so). That is understandable and likely necessary. However what is less clear is what these remaining restrictions will mean for tourist attractions like zoos. They are not like music festivals with huge densely packed international crowds, but they can still draw in fairly large crowds that will not always be able to practice social distancing. Will any of them be open in any form, will there be any possibilities for recreation, leisure and tourism this summer? I don't think anyone knows at this point, but unfortunately it doesn't seem like recreational business will be anywhere near first on the list to be allowed to reopen. In part also because people will likely flock to them in droves once they do (and as is now happening in China), and that poses a big risk for new outbreak clusters.

I fear there is a very good chance that even this summer we still will not be able to do zoo visits, or to travel to other countries to visit zoos. I think there is a good chance zoos will be required to remain closed for another 4 to 6 months or more. I'm not sanguine about the chances of even large institutions with substantial reserves surviving that long with little or no revenue. We are also seeing that very few governments seem to realize the importance of zoos in terms of education, conservation, science and recreation and are willing to come to their aid to help them through this crisis, despite several pleas for help from the sector. Zoos and conservation also are definitely not going to be priorities anywhere in these hard times. And I don't think public donations will be sufficient in the mid to long term, especially as more and more individuals, families and companies begin to suffer financially and can no longer contribute to charities.

Even if zoos survive this crisis their investments in animal welfare, conservation, education and scientific endeavors are likely to suffer for years to come, undermining the stated mission of zoos, hampering wildlife conservation and probably also making zoos more vulnerable to attacks from their detractors. Those detractors are probably also going to use the Bronx zoo tiger case as an argument. Zoos are in a very vulnerable and distressing position right now and if the opponents wanted to kick zoos down for good right now they have a bigger chance than ever before. Attacks using this crisis will come and they might be successful this time.

I really appreciate all the optimistic messages and the enjoyable animal content that zoos are posting on social media, YouTube et cetera lately of them continuing to care for their animals and to further their mission in these difficult times, but that will not be what saves them or keeps them going as this does not generate revenue, or at least very little. It also pains me to even think about what might happen to the animals in collections that do end up failing and no longer being able to provide for their inhabitants.

I really want to find some reasons to be optimistic and positive about the future of zoos despite this crisis, but I am just not seeing any right now and thus I have many fears and a bleak view of the future for zoos. I really hope we can visit zoos again in the future, but I am not sanguine about what will be left of the zoological world when the time after this crisis begins.

We all need some perspective on a better future after this crisis and some form of return to our lives as they were before, but the world after this crisis will be permanently changed in some ways from the world before. It only remains to be seen just how different it will be. And what that will mean for zoos.

I really want to believe in a good future for zoos after this crisis, but right now I am only seeing massive, potentially insurmountable challenges and enormous problems. I see a lot of zoo fans still being fairly optimistic and positive about the future of zoos, so perhaps they are seeing something I am not or know something that I do not. I welcome input from others on these matters.

 

Yeah, I've been seeing more and more places asking for money, it's unnerving and I'm very worried. I was getting pretty worried seeing the Gladys Porter Zoo do it, and REALLY worried when the San Antonio Zoo did it.

Fingers crossed that people are going to flood to zoos when all of this is over (people will be itching to get out and zoos are popular and usually not too expensive) but when will that be? When restrictions start getting rolled back I wonder if some countries will allow recreational facilities to open at limited capacity, but like you say, these places aren't gonna be high priority.

I won't be surprised if a lot of smaller zoos and sanctuaries shut down, which would come with the challenge of finding homes for the animals. Larger places will probably stay afloat but even then, there are going to be long-term problems. I wish I could do something to help, but coronavirus took my job. (not that I made much money in the first place) Maybe they'll be desperate for volunteers, in which case, I'll haul ass and do whatever they want me to.

 

As part of AZA membership zoos have to have significant financial planning and reserve fund (unsure of how much). That will not solve the crisis for AZA zoos, yet the combination of furloughing nonessential employees (allowing them to go on beefed up unemployment benefits) and the fact that most zoos have some level of government support, will likely allow them to weather this storm better than non-AZA institutions. A lot of non-profits are also pushing for a partial bailout (museums, zoos, theaters...), but we will have to see if that is in any way included in future congressional aid bills.

Edit: Looked up the accreditation standards, and all AZA zoos must have a written up financial plan for taking care of animals and essential services during a 3-6 month significant downturn in income.

If I remembering correctly this was a factor in the Honolulu Zoo & Zoo Montana being stripped of their accreditation.

 

Just let me visit a zoo, any zoo! I don't care if it's Wynewood, I just want to visit one!

 

Surprisingly, a quick response to the petition came. The answer came today, but the zoo has been closed since yesterday. I don't know if I reviewed the closure based on my petition or was originally planned, but it's a relief anyway.

It is not clear whether animals infected with COVID-19 can transmit COVID-19 to humans, but it appears that animal-to-animal transmission is possible through studies using cats in China, so I think as many zoos as possible will have to decide on the crucial point of closure to protect animals, although finance problems will be serious.

 

Two articles were published today both on Mongabay regarding how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting conservation efforts and conservationists themselves. May be of interest to zoochatters.

80 percent of conservation careers negatively affected by COVID pandemic (commentary)

Field research, interrupted: How the COVID-19 crisis is stalling science

 

Unfortunately it was entirely to be expected that conservation would be another sector falling victim to the corona crisis. However things seem to be even worse than I expected them to be, based on these articles. I don't think we should respond with total hopelessness, but there will be an important impact sadly.

I also would like to link to two articles. These articles discuss the impact of Covid-19 on zoos.

Sustaining the mission: Zoos and aquariums in the age of COVID-19
Zoos & coronavirus | WAZA explores how it will affect the sector | blooloop

 

I dont think we should ever respond with total hopelessness as hope springs eternal. In the short term there will be negative impacts but in the long term who can tell and I do personally believe that the pandemic for all the human and economic misery caused does have a number of silver linings.

I just hope that as it begins to fade we can return to our efforts that have been put on hold as quickly as possible. There is a lot of important work to do.

 

I hope you are right about the silver linings, but I fear that not many conservation lessons will be learned from this. It already seems that at least China and the CCP are not willing to completely ban and stamp out the wildlife trade and the disgusting wet markets.

Unfortunately when push comes to shove, money often wins out from conservation or even from human health and life. And I don't see this pandemic totally changing that, sadly, if at all.

 

I've been seeing mixed news about China myself. Some of it seems at least on the surface seems to inspire hope while others yet are deeply depressing.

I saw an article (that I believe you shared on this thread) about the Chinese communist party reccomending bear bile as a "traditional medicine" based "treatement" for the coronavirus which I agree is disgusting. To add onto that are other very disturbing reports about the reopening of wet markets in some rural areas which seem to suggest to me that in at least some areas of the country many of the lessons from this pandemic are falling on deaf ears and that there is a lack of political and economical will to definitely close these businesses down.

But then it would also appear that there are concerted efforts being made to change the legislation regarding the wildlife trade within China and Vietnam albeit with many loopholes that deny outright consumption but continue to permit traditional medicine. The most encouraging sign I think is that the younger generations in the country seem to have taken a strong stance against the trade but then again it is hard to tell how this might play out.

 

The Dutch news agency of RTL just reported that the Wuhan market where the virus probably originally jumped to humans has reopened, complete with bats and other wildlife... Say what you want about China, but to me it’s become evident there simply is no political or civilian motivation to actually do something about the wildlife trade. Ten years ago education would’ve been an excuse, but the Chinese economy is robust enough to pay for a couple of biology classes and enforce a few laws...

 

Deeply and abyssmally depressing news...Hard not to feel livid with anger at this...

 

Can you link to this please?

 

I read this paper earlier. It may be of interest in terms of what is being spelled out for the short term future of conservation (though sadly much of it wil hardly come as a suprise).

Impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on biodiversity conservation

 

According to the article linked below, the Covid-19 pandemic has unfortunately led to an increase in wildlife poaching in several locations in the world. Very disturbing I would say.

Wildlife Poaching Surges Across The World As The COVID-19 Pandemic Rages On

 

Some countries are beginning to cull in bats in a misinformed attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19.