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NOEL KING, HOST: Three mountain lions, two tigers and two grizzly bears were the first zoo animals to be vaccinated for the coronavirus. ALEX HERMAN: Oh, Archie the ferret - I forgot about

him. He's on the list, too. LEILA FADEL, HOST: Dr. Alex Herman is vice president of veterinary services at the Oakland Zoo, where, during this pandemic, zero animals have had COVID. And

it has been a lot of work keeping them safe. HERMAN: All keepers - PPE, really strict protocols for hand-washing and food preparation. KING: And so the zoo applied to get an experimental

vaccine from Zoetis, and last week, a donation arrived. The veterinary drug company is giving doses to dozens of zoos with federal authorization. FADEL: Now, you might think a tiger would be

a little vaccine hesitant, but Herman says it can be persuaded with treats. HERMAN: Basically, our nurses train the tiger to lay against the chain-link fence, and then one animal care

person will squirt goat's milk - I think, is the real treat for the tigers - in their mouth while the other people give them an injection. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED

ZOOKEEPER #1: Poke. Poke. Good job (laughter). UNIDENTIFIED ZOOKEEPER #2: Good boy. UNIDENTIFIED ZOOKEEPER #1: Nicely done, sir. FADEL: The special treat for black bears and grizzly bears -

whipped cream and ice cream, which usually works. HERMAN: There was one group of bears that the whipped cream was too exciting, and they couldn't focus on their behavior, so they

weren't allowed to have it. KING: (Laughter) Dr. Alex Herman says it's important for their animals to get shots because many of them are at risk and endangered. HERMAN: We have

really big responsibility to be stewards of these beautiful animals, and certainly, the evidence shows that the benefit far outweighs the risk in this situation. KING: Next up for

vaccination at the Oakland Zoo are the primates, fruit bats and the pigs. (SOUNDBITE OF FREDDIE JOACHIM'S "SUN DRESS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.