‘Tiger King’ Doc Antle, Carole Baskin Share How They Protect Big Cats From COVID-19

“Tiger King” stars Doc Antle and Carole Baskin shared how they protect their big cats from the coronavirus.

Antle and Baskin recently addressed the safety of their animals. According to Antle, Joe Exotic’s former mentor, his animals in Myrtle Beach are safe from COVID-19. He is confident that they will not contract the virus after a tiger from Bronx Zoo tested positive for coronavirus.

Antle told TMZ that his Myrtle Beach Safari has a different setup from the Bronx Zoo. Also, he and his 25 employees are residing onsite, giving them and the animals amore controlled and self-isolated environment.

The “Tiger King” star admitted that he put his facility on lockdown immediately after the government released guidelines to stay at home and practice social distancing. Antle’s staff has been under strict quarantine and there have been no visitors or physical contact with others.

When it comes to attending to his big cats, Antle said they are bathed and cleaned regularly. Every animal is assigned specific caretakers, limiting potential exposure to the coronavirus.

Antle is also prepared in case one of his big kitties contract the virus. According to him, the tiger will be treated like a person and will be put in self-isolation for 14 days to avoid spreading the virus to other animals. However, he believes that there is a very low chance that any of his animals will get sick from COVID-19.

Exotic’s nemesis Baskin is as confident as Antle when it comes to the welfare of her animals at the tiger rescue outside of Tampa. The staff there has been monitoring the animals closely and none of them have shown any symptoms.

Meanwhile, it is believed that the caretaker transmitted the virus to Nadia, a 4-year-old Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo. Nadia and several other tigers and lions were showing respiratory symptoms. Leyi Wang, a veterinary virologist at the University of Illinois who studies coronavirus in animals confirmed that the genetics of the virus Nadia contracted matched more than 99% with the virus in humans, USA Today reported.

“It is not known how this disease will develop in big cats since different species can react differently to novel infections, but we will continue to monitor them closely and anticipate full recoveries,” the zoo said in a statement.