Warning: some of the pictures shown below may be disturbing.
As part of our routine health care of the chimpanzees at Tacugama, we recently gave Gorilla (yes that’s really his name -you can read more about him on one of our earlier blogs here) a booster vaccination. After a few days, Gorilla’s leg showed signs of stiffness and discomfort and his leg started to swell. We became increasingly concerned when Gorilla didn’t respond to follow up treatment and decided that we had to knock him down to investigate more closely. As sweet natured and friendly as Gorilla is, he is still an adult male chimpanzee weighing over 50kg and sedation is the only way that we can do a thorough check.
Carrying a sedated Gorilla to the operating table
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As Dr Rosa had suspected, Gorilla had developed a large, deep abscess between the muscles at the site of the injection. One of our guests staying at our eco-lodges at the sanctuary was a doctor and had seen and treated similar problems in innoculated children and was very happy to lend our resident vet a hand with the surgery. Our friends at IMATT (International Military Advisory Training Team) also offered to lend a hand.
Preparing Gorilla for surgery
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The operation went ahead last week and was definitely not one for those with a weak stomach as the team drained more than half a litre of pus and cleaned the wound thoroughly.
Gorilla’s enclosure companions knew that something was afoot and whilst they couldn’t see the operation directly they looked on from a distance, clearly concerned for Gorri’s wellbeing.
Urgent, Zack and Salva monitor proceedings with Baba close by
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We’re very pleased with how the operation went and are pleased to report that he’s making a good recovery, allowing Dr Rosa to inspect and clean the leg every day through the den windows. He should be back in the enclosure with Urgent and all as soon as the wound has healed. (Interestingly, further analysis by Dr Rosa of samples taken during the operation confirmed that the abscess was sterile and caused by a reaction to the vaccine fluids)
Gorilla recovering from the anesthesia (the wound has to remain unstitched to allow it to drain completely, be cleaned and heal well)
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We’d like to thank Dr Saskia van Zadelhoff and Dr John from IMATT for assisting Dr Rosa, and Stijn Koole (Saskia’s partner) for taking a complete photo record of the operation.
After the operation (from left to right) Drs John, Saskia and Rosa together with Willie
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Feb 6th Yvonne M USD 20.00