DenisCOVIDinfoguy, 
The meerkat mask mandate you didn’t know about. By Mandy Squires
"Both Melbourne and Werribee zoos have strict mask rules in place to protect the curious creatures from catching COVID from members of the public during “meerkat experience” sessions."
#COVID19 #meerkat #maskmandate @auscovid19
Both Melbourne and Werribee zoos have strict mask rules in place to protect the curious creatures from catching Covid from members of the public during “meerkat experience” sessions. “Fitted face masks are to be worn on all experiences, behind the scenes, tours and in some animal habitats, which will be signed,” Melbourne Zoo informs potential visitors on its website. The zoo’s terms and conditions state that anyone who refuses to mask-up as directed can be refused entry or ordered to leave the zoo. Masks are also required to be worn by visitors participating in Werribee Zoo’s African cat experience, that allows humans to get close to servals. A spokeswoman for Zoos Victoria said precautionary measures were taken “to carefully manage health risks through animal care practices, such as wearing masks whenever there are animal and keeper interactions with primates, meerkats and our feline species”. It comes as the number of Victorians hospitalised with Covid each day surges again, after the state enjoyed a brief respite. An average of 116 people a day were hospitalised with the virus last week, up from 95 the week before. Covid deaths have also risen to 80 in the most recent 28-day reporting period of March 6 to April 2 — more than in the previous period of February 7 to March 5, with the latest metropolitan and regional wastewater testing revealing “increasing prevalence of Covid-19 infections in the community”.
A Covid vaccine for Australian zoo animals has been made. The Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia (ZAA) and Adelaide biotech company Vaxine developed the vaccine, called SpikeVet, based on technology used in the COVAX-19 human vaccine. “We explored a range of options to vaccinate our zoo animals and this option was selected considering both safety and potential effectiveness,” co-convener of the ZAA Veterinary Advisory Group, Dr David McLelland, said. “While Covid-19 vaccines for animals have also been developed overseas, it is more feasible to use a locally made vaccine, particularly one that has already been shown to be safe and effective in a broad range of animal species.” ZAA said the SpikeVet vaccine had an optimised formulation appropriate for animals of very different sizes and was designed to protect against all the major Covid variants, including the Omicron variants.
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