Who are those masked people lurking at the Henry Doorly Zoo?
It’s not the Great Zoo Robbery.
Rather, staff members assigned to the Hubbard Gorilla Valley and the Hubbard Orangutan Forest are wearing masks so they don’t pass any human germs, including flu, to the great apes.
Masked people also are working in the zoo’s nursery.
“As you can imagine, keeping animals safe is a big priority for us,” said Dawn Ream of the zoo’s marketing department.
The entire zoo staff has had seasonal flu shots and will be inoculated for H1N1 as soon as the shots are available for everyone. The senior staff is carefully monitoring the sick log and, so far, have seen no spikes.
Access is more restricted to animal areas, even for staff members.
There is lots of hand sanitizer around, plenty of restrooms where people can wash their hands often and automated doors on many of the buildings. (Since the doors open by motion detection, people have little reason to touch them and pick up or leave germs.)
“The janitorial staff pays even closer attention to cleaning details,” Ream said. “We’re not necessarily a breeding ground for germs, but we’re trying to be proactive.”
The zoo will host Supper With Santa Dec. 18 to 20. The event will take place in the Treetops restaurant and Santa will be seated near a restroom. That way kids can wash their hands before coming into contact with him and afterward. Hand sanitizer also will be on tables.
Contact the writer:
444-1067, carol.bicak@owh.com
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