'Tiger King' star Doc Antle is protecting his tigers from coronavirus by cleaning and bathing them regularly
Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’ fame Joe Exotic’s former mentor has said that his animals in Myrtle Beach are safe from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doc Antle, who was one of the three stars of the docuseries, told TMZ that his Myrtle Beach Safari is a haven for him and his 25 employees, who all live on-site, making for a much more controlled and self-isolated environment.
Antle also said that he put his facility on immediate lockdown after the government released guidelines to stay at home and practice social distancing. His staff members are also under strict quarantine since the coronavirus outbreak in the US with no physical contact with the outside world.
The animal trainer added that since there are guidelines for humans to maintain basic hygiene and wash hands at regular intervals, he is also following the same with his big cats by giving them regular baths and cleaning. Continuing further, he said specific caretakers are assigned to the animals, and that does not change, hence limiting potential exposure to the deadly virus.
Antle also mentioned that if one of his animals somehow contracts COVID-19, it will be treated like a human being and put in self-isolation for 14 days to stop it from further spread.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, Exotic’s nemesis, Carole Baskin, has also confirmed that her Big Cat Rescue felines are fine. The staff working at her tiger rescue outside of Tampa have said that they are monitoring the animals closely and none of them have shown any symptoms.
The statements from Antle and Baskin come after a tiger at Bronx Zoo in New York City tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first animal in the US known to have contracted the disease. The 4-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia is believed to have been infected by a zoo employee who was not yet showing symptoms, the zoo said.
The zoo said that some other animals of theirs, six other tigers and lions, have also fallen ill. The first animal started showing symptoms on 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 stunned zoo officials. “I couldn't believe it,” director Jim Breheny said. But 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 said in an interview.
However, Dr Jane Rooney, a veterinarian, and a USDA official, said in an interview that there “doesn’t appear to be, at this time, any evidence that suggests that the animals can spread the virus to people or that they can be a source of the infection in the United States.”
