Even the animal kingdom may be feeling the weight of social isolation from COVID-19.

As the National Zoo prepared to open its doors last Friday, zookeepers, curators and expectant patrons openly wondered how humanity’s primate cousins — not to mention the petting-zoo cows and donkeys longing for scritches — will welcome back their visitors after four months away. “I would bet money that Lucy will have the strongest reaction to having visitors back,” one curator told Washington City Paper, referring to the zoo’s 46-year-old orangutan.

Then there are the cats: “Cats don’t care about you one way or another,” another curator said. “We all want the cats to love us, but cats are cats no matter what size. They’re indifferent to you.”

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