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Two animals from a Chilean zoo received their second dose of an animal-friendly anti-Covid vaccine, a first in Latin America, to test the protection of species at risk.
Charly, a 3-year-old Bengal tiger, at the time of receiving his second dose of an experimental vaccine against Covid-19 developed to protect animals, on January 3, 2022 at the Chilean zoo in Buin.
AFP
Charly and Sandai, a Bengal tiger and a Borneo orangutan, two endangered species, received their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Monday as part of a unique experimental program in Latin America led by the Santiago de Chile Zoo. The 26-year-old Sandai represents “an important reproductive potential for the species, which has led us to focus on its immunization,” Ignacio Idalsoaga, director of the Buin zoo, told AFP.
Charly, despite being only three years old, is already a huge Bengal tiger, one of the biggest cats in the world. Both are part of the dozen animals that now have a complete vaccination schedule, along with other big cats and great apes. They had received a first dose of vaccine on December 13, 2021.
Suitable vaccine
The vaccine administered is experimental and is not available for sale. Its formula only intended for animals knows certain similarities with that administered to humans, the main variant residing in the adjuvant used, explained the veterinary laboratory Zoetis which provided the doses.
Orangutan Sandai during his second dose, January 3, 2022, at Buin Zoo.
AFP
Check efficacy in animals
The same vaccine has already been used on animals at the San Diego Zoo in the United States, but Chile (where 87% of the population over the age of three is fully vaccinated) is the only country in Latin America to launch an animal vaccination program. “The idea is to protect the most sensitive animals against the coronavirus and, at the same time, to check whether the vaccines generate immunity and how long this immunity lasts, much like in humans”, explains Sebastian Celis , head of the veterinary department.
Animals tested positive
To appease the animals during the bite, a portion of fresh meat was offered to Charly. Sandai was given copious amounts of sliced bananas, his favorite food. No cases of coronavirus have been detected at Buin Zoo, unlike that in Washington where six lions and three tigers were vaccinated against Covid-19 after testing positive mid-last year. Gorillas at the Atlanta Zoo in Georgia were among the first to test positive for the coronavirus.
(AFP)