The LA Zoo is preparing animals and staff for COVID-19

The closure of public spaces, due to the coronavirus pandemic, has led to interesting times at the Los Angeles Zoo. While zoo employees continue to report to work and care for the animals, they're noticing some unique behaviors.

"It's been very interesting to see the behavior of the animals. Animals that don't usually pay much attention to the crowds, all of the sudden, if you're in a public space, they'll come up to the fence and look at you. And sometimes even vocalize," said Beth Schaefer, Director of Animal Programs at the Los Angeles Zoo. "The animals really seem to miss the people."

Zoo staff is also taking preventative measures with animals that could possibly be susceptible to COVID-19, such as great apes."

Because they're so closely related to us, we're not interacting with them closer than 6 feet," said Schaefer. "So we have implemented basically the same social distancing that we do with humans."