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The 180-pound gorilla in the operat |
The 180-pound gorilla in the operating room
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 15-October-2013
4:1:53 AM |
There was unrestricted viewing of Disney and National Geographic DVDs, and a stock of favorite snacks. But Holli - who goes by a single name - was not a model hospital patient. While recovering from complicated surgery in September, she methodically yanked out every staple from her 10-inch-long incision. Another time, she looked a medical resident in the eye and ripped a catheter from her arm. Boredom gave way to tantrums.
That was all fine by the hospital staff. "She's starting to act like a gorilla again, which is good," said James J. Breheny, the director of the Bronx Zoo, which is run by the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Holli's illness, treatment and recovery offer an unusual behind-the-scenes look at the zoo, a leader in conservation and zoo science. Her surgery and recuperation took place in the zoo's 30,000-square-foot health center, one of the most sophisticated animal medical facilities in the country, with three wards, a nursery, an intensive care unit, molecular and pathology laboratories and an operating room.
Holli's case involved 24-hour veterinary care for several weeks; tests, including a CT scan, both on and off site; and a decision to call in a team of Mount Sinai surgeons who, it turned out, were in the best position to navigate a gorilla's anatomy.
"Most veterinarians know their way around the abdomen of a cat or a dog," said Dr. Bonnie Rafael, one of seven veterinarians on staff at the zoo. "But particularly with great apes, because they are so closely related to people, we will tap into specialists who treat humans."
One of 18 gorillas at the zoo, Holli, 23 and the dominant female in her troop, was not alone in the health center. During her stay, a newborn red panda was being hand-raised there, along with a couple of young Fennec foxes whose mother was unable to rear all five of her kits. ("It was a little too much for her," Rafael said.)
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