A keeper at the Oklahoma City Zoo one day noticed that Eko, a Sumatran tiger, kept rubbing his face on the side of the fence, breaking all his whiskers.
A team started treating the tiger with antihistamines, but he continued to rub his face. Eventually, the staff partnered with a veterinary dermatologist who came out and performed skin allergy testing to see what Eko was reacting to.
While allergies in domesticated animals like dogs, cats, horses, and some birds are common, experts say there are few documented cases of allergies in the wild. It’s not clear whether that’s because wild animals are less susceptible to allergies than domesticated animals or whether scientists have not been able to observe wild animals closely for symptoms of allergies.
“It’s not as common as you would see in domestic dogs and cats, but it certainly does happen,” says Dr. Jennifer D’Agostino, DVM, DACZM, and chief animal program officer at the Oklahoma City Zoo. “Now that we have more advanced medicine and knowledge, I think it’s probably being diagnosed more than maybe it was in the past.”
