During this corona crisis, there are so many things to focus on that sometimes we forget about how this could potentially be affecting not only zookeepers but the animals as well. This article is told from the perspective of Heather DeBord who is primarily a zookeeper in the herpetology sector at Zoo Knoxville. Even though the zoo is now closed, the animals obviously still need to be fed and cared for. She explains how each of the zookeepers has a different schedule to avoid passing one another. There are at least three other people cross-trained in her department and are therefore able to do what she does. However, the zoo realizes that more precautions had to be taken when the first cases of COVID- 19 began to appear. Each department made sure that they had plans written up which would allow anybody without prior knowledge or experience to be able to care for these animals. DeBord explains how often in herpetology there are many things that experts would intuitively think of doing that others would not, which is why she made her plans very detailed to ensure the safety of her animals. Not a lot is known about what kinds of infections can be passed from human to animal, and therefore extra precautions must be taken. It’s great to hear that these animals are under such great care during this very difficult time. A picture of DeBord is included below with “Big Al”, a Giant Tortoise at Zoo Knoxville.
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1 comment:
Super interesting article - thanks for sharing!
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