Mike the Tiger received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination on Aug. 6, LSU announced Monday, leaving some wondering how veterinarians administer shots to big cats.
Ginger Guttner, LSU School of Veterinary Medicine communications manager, explained how Mike’s caretakers administered the vaccine.
Mike’s caretaker David Baker worked toward the vaccination process by visiting Mike several times and pinching skin on his right flank to condition the tiger before the actual injection, according to Guttner.
“[He was] basically doing dry runs,” she said.
The process was simple and painless when the time came to administer both doses of the vaccine. Baker waited for Mike to approach him at the fence, and when the tiger lay down he “pinched a bit of skin through the fence” like the several times leading up to the inoculation and administered the injection, Guttner said.
“It was very similar to what happens with people,” she said. “[It took] just a couple of seconds.”
Although the injection used a similar needle as ones used to vaccinate humans, the vaccine Mike received was not the mRNA vaccine produced by Moderna, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson.
Veterinary drug company Zoetis donated its recombinant protein vaccine developed specifically for animals to inoculate Mike, Guttner said.
“Zoetis is donating over 11,000 of these vaccines to animals living in zoos, academic institutions and sanctuaries,” she said. “We’re a part of that program.”
Mike has not experienced adverse effects from the vaccine and his caretakers will continue to monitor him closely, a university press release said.
The 4-year-old, 415-pound tiger was vaccinated after lions and tigers at the Bronx Zoo tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2020. The university put barricades around Mike’s habitat to keep visitors at least 10 feet from the mascot following the news out of the Bronx Zoo.
The barricades will be removed the week of Aug. 17 now that Mike has been vaccinated, the press release said.
As the university doubles down on its decision not to require vaccinations for students this fall, some are not as enthusiastic about Mike’s vaccination status.
Guttner said the School of Veterinary Medicine hopes the gesture to vaccinate Mike shows a dedication to the health of the LSU community as well as the university’s commitment to the health of the beloved mascot.
“We’re a medical school,” she said. “We encourage people to get vaccinated.”
