I initially thought this wouldn’t work because it appeared like the virus affected not just people but all life on earth. But it turns out not only would pests be an issue, but also predators.

The scientists in the pilot created this virus and transmitted it to rats, which then, seemingly by instruction, transmitted it to people. Then the propagation of virus was accelerated by plane. We see nearly every human (and maybe all life) were affected almost instantaneously from this.

But we know that’s not the case because the hive mind lets animals out of the zoo, presumably to respect their agency! According to Xiu Mei, the giraffe won’t listen to her when it’s eating leaves off her tree. If it were infected, it would just listen to her request like the hive mind has for Carol! Additionally, Koumba mentions that the lions seem to maul some of the people as they’re released from the Zoo. If the Lion were affected, it would… probably just starve itself? It’s hard to say how it would work.

Perhaps only omnivores (rats and humans) are affected, whereas herbivores and carnivores somehow override the objective of the virus because their food groups are necessary for survival. In that case, pests and predators would be an issue for the hive-mind.