In early April, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York was found to be infected with the coronavirus.
Even then, Parken Zoo decided that staff who worked with, among other things, cats, marmots and all primate animals would wear face masks and on certain occasions also gloves.
- Even though we knew that large cats could become infected, it still felt far away when it happened in other countries.
But when it happened at a zoo in Sweden that we have equivalent routines with, it became like a warning bell, says Anita Burkevica, veterinarian and zoo manager at Parken Zoo.
Staff wear visors
On Tuesday, Parken Zoo introduced a new routine.
Now staff working in two of the park's four departments will wear visors, as a complement to mouth guards and gloves.
Everyone also carries a bottle of hand sanitizer to use on common areas such as handles and buttons.
"My godmother has sewn mouth guards for us"
When the pandemic struck, there was a great shortage of protective equipment throughout Sweden and the world.
Parken Zoo then donated some of its protective equipment to Mälar Hospital and began sewing its own mouth guards.
- It was my retired godmother who offered to sew mouth guards for my employees.
Now she is up to about 200 mouth guards and has become very good at sewing them, says Anita Burkevica.