US: The National Zoo in Washington DC opens after months of pandemic closure

Washington DC: With masked lions standing guard outside the Smithsonian's National Zoo people in Washington, D.C. can officially visit the animals again.

"We are very excited. We have been waiting for the zoo to open for many months. We're members, so we jumped at the opportunity when they opened up for members for parking and all that," said Shannon McMahon who was bringing her two small children to the park. The national zoo remains free to the public but now requires passes reserved ahead of time online.

"COVID is a zoonotic disease so we know it transmits back and forth between humans and animals, but this is what we do: we're a zoo, we know how to protect against zoonotic diseases.Something like avian influenza, or rabies, or swine flu, any of the things that you hear about we are always protecting against those. A lot of our keepers already were wearing masks to work with the animals and interact safely with them. None of these protocols are new, there's just more of them expanded across every species in the zoo," said the zoo's deputy director, Dr. Brandie Smith.

The goal is to protect not just visitors from potential infection from each other, but any disease transmission between humans and animals. "Primate species, some of our great cats, and also a few species like ferrets and other species are especially susceptible, so to be absolutely safe we created social distancing between people and those animals. Animal keepers that work with those species are wearing N95 masks for those times when they are in close proximity," said Dr. Steve Monfort, the zoo's director.

With its expansive paths now open to visitors some are taking the advantage of a palace to get their steps in safely with added entertainment. "Everybody's wearing face coverings, people are distancing physically, and the indoor exhibits are closed so this is a great form of outdoor recreation where we can get some exercise and get some enjoyment without risking ourselves and other people," said visitor Elisa Braver.

For some parents having the chance to visit the zoo and see animals comes as a sigh of relief after being cooped up at home with their children. "It's been amazing. He was up at, what time? 6 am because he couldn't wait to see all his favorite animals," McMahon said.