{"id":44239,"date":"2021-10-14T22:21:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T04:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/two-amur-tigers-test-positive-for-covid-19-at-denver-zoo\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:18:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:18:03","slug":"two-amur-tigers-test-positive-for-covid-19-at-denver-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/two-amur-tigers-test-positive-for-covid-19-at-denver-zoo\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Amur Tigers test positive for COVID-19 at Denver Zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Denver
Denver Zoo\u2019s two 11-year-old Amur tigers, Yuri and Nikita, recently tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. (Courtesy Denver Zoo)<\/span>Courtesy Denver Zoo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

DENVER \u2014 Denver Zoo announced Thursday that its two 11-year-old Amur tigers, Yuri and Nikita, have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.<\/p>\n

A test, conducted after zoo staff noticed that the Siberian tigers appeared lethargic and were coughing and sneezing, showed \u201cpresumptive positive\u201d results through fecal and nasal swab samples at the Colorado State University lab in Fort Collins, a zoo news release said Thursday.<\/p>\n

The results were confirmed positive by the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s National Veterinary Services Laboratories.<\/p>\n

Yuri and Nikita are the first animals at the zoo to test positive for COVID-19, and appear to be improving at this time. No other animal at the zoo shows symptoms of infection, the zoo said.<\/p>\n

\"Courtesy
Courtesy Denver ZooYuri and Nikita will remain under close observation by their keepers and veterinarians at the Denver Zoo while they recover from COVID-19.<\/span>Courtesy Denver Zoo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019ve known for a long time what species at the Zoo are susceptible to the virus, and we\u2019ve taken every necessary precaution to protect all of our animals,\u201d said Brian Aucone, senior vice president for Life Sciences at Denver Zoo. \u201cAlthough we can\u2019t be certain how Yuri and Nikita became infected with COVID-19, we\u2019re fortunate to have an incredible staff with the expertise and experience to recognize their symptoms, and provide excellent care and treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The zoo said it has taken precautions to protect its animals, staff and visitors since the pandemic started, an email from communications director Jake Kubi\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n

The zoo said it has worked on safety protocals with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Department of Agriculture and USDA. Zoo staff adhere to protocol around its animals, including required use of personal protective equipment, hygiene, cleaning, employee self-screening and health management.<\/p>\n

In 2020, the zoo installed barriers around the tigers\u2019 habitat, The Edge, to ensure safe distancing between guests and the animals.<\/p>\n

Although neither tiger has been vaccinated against COVID-19, the zoo\u2019s veterinarians plan to vaccinate them when more doses of the animal-specific Zoetis vaccine become available.<\/p>\n

Both tigers will have access to their outdoor habitats, the zoo said, adding that tiger demonstrations have been suspended until they fully recover.<\/p>\n

\"Nikita
Nikita and Yuri have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, the Denver Zoo said Thursday. (Courtesy Denver Zoo)<\/span>Courtesy Denver Zoo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Animals will have access to outdoor environment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-44239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86016,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44239\/revisions\/86016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44239"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=44239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}