Avoid the zoo if you’re sick

LOK KAWI: If you are thinking that there is no harm in entering a wildlife sanctuary when you are suffering from a cold or diarrhoea, think again.

Just as humans could easily transmit a cold from one individual to another, we can also transmit these diseases to the animals at the sanctuary.

And that’s not all – some of the diseases carried by animals at the sanctuary can also be transmitted to humans, said Professor Michael Muehlenbein from the Anthropology Department of Indiana University during a talk on the subject held at the Lok Kawi zoo near here recently.

Another no-no when visiting wildlife sanctuaries is going in without your shoes on, or when you have a cut in any part of your body; human-animal diseases can be transmitted through various ways, including contact with the animal fecal which are likely to be on the ground we step on, he said.

Not many of us are aware of this, but primates such as monkeys, for instance, can die if they contract human measles.

In order to avoid transmitting diseases, it is important to use one’s common sense, which is to not visit the wildlife sanctuaries at all when we are ill, he said.

“Use your common sense. If you are sick, stay home. It’s the same message I tell to my students – if you are sick, don’t come to class. Don’t make me sick (too). I think the animals are probably thinking the same thing,” he said.

Unfortunately with a State like Sabah which thrives on its tourism sector, particularly the eco-tourism part of the industry, it is not so easy to get sick tourists to stay away from wildlife after they have spend so much in the first place to get here.

“To my own experience, they don’t stop. But the most important thing we can do is give them the education, tell them the problem and let them decide, but unfortunately, they will want to go anyway,” he said.

He suggested making it compulsory for any visitors at the State’s wildlife sanctuaries such as the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre and Sukau, to view a video presentation on how animal-human diseases can be transmitted and how it could be avoided.

“Then we will let them decide,” he said.

Additionally, he also recommended that we kept our distance from the animals when we are at the venue itself.

“Seven meters is the recommended distance,” he said.

However, 90 per cent of the time, tourists disregard this rule and prefer to get close to the animals.

“We have to enforce the rules, but is it worth it? I am not the person to say,” he said.

Another alternative, he said, is to refuse them entry altogether.

“But it is a delicate balance. I won’t want to be the person to tell them not to (go in),” he said.