Members of the Gorilla Troop at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. On Wednesday, January 6, two of the gorillas began coughing. Given current circumstances, San Diego Zoo Global initiated the process of testing fecal samples from the gorillas for SARS-CoV-2 through the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CA HFS). 

Although the Zoo is closed to guests, the animals are still celebrating the holidays. Today (Dec. 21, 2020), wildlife care specialists created holiday wreaths and gave them to Akobi and Mabel, pygmy hippos at the San Diego Zoo.

New information about thick-billed parrots, gathered using state-of-the-art technology, is likely to identify important steps to conserving this endangered species. In September, a team of biologists—including members from Organización Vida Silvestre A.C. (OVIS) in Mexico, the Arizona Fish and Game Department, World Parrot Trust and San Diego Zoo Global—worked together to place small transmitters on thick-billed parrots in Chihuahua, Mexico.