A tiger at the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the coronavirus, federal officials and the zoo stated on Sunday.
This is believed to be a first-ever known infection in an animal in the United States or a tiger anywhere in the world.
The zoo officials believe that the tiger contracted the virus from a caretaker who was asymptomatic at the time.
The four-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia and six other tigers and lions that have also fallen ill, according to the Zoo.
The first animal started showing symptoms March 27, and all are doing well and expected to recover, said the zoo, which has been closed to the public since March 16 amid the surging coronavirus outbreak in New York.
The test result has left the zoo officials stunned.
“I couldn’t believe it”, said director Jim Breheny. However, he hopes the finding can contribute to the global fight against the virus that causes COVID-19.
“Any kind of knowledge that we get on how it’s transmitted, how different species react to it, that knowledge somehow is going to provide a greater base resource for people,” he stated in an interview.
