Makokou, the much loved gorilla from the Johannesburg Zoo has been suffering from chronic nasal discharge and swelling. He was not responding to medication and was transported by helicopter to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital in Pretoria for a medical examination, CT scan and further tests.
Makokou undergoing his scan.
Staff from the Zuid Afrikaans Hospital (ZAH) formed part of the team doing the procedures.
The surgical team consisted of Dr Kobus Venter, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, along with theatre nurses Marietjie Scheepers and Leonette Visagie. Professor Gerhard Steenkamp, a veterinary dentist and maxillofacial surgeon assisted in the procedure.
‘It was an overwhelming experience and such a privilege to help. You do not realise how big he is, until he lies on the table,’ Scheepers said on the ZAH’s Facebook page.
‘His skin feels like leather and he had a massive chest, boney head and large hands. It was a WOW experience filled with adrenaline,’ Visagie added. Makokou weighs an impressive 210 kg, according to the Ladysmith Gazette.
The tests revealed the 35-year-old gorilla’s nasal passages were completely blocked by polyps, abnormal tissue growth. The examination also revealed he has fibrosis growing in his heart muscle. Mokokou will have to undergo extensive surgery to remove the polyps.
‘What we will do now is get a CT scan from a normal gorilla to compare to this one, which was quite difficult, but we managed to get one from South America,’ veterinary specialist Prof Adrian Tordiff, who formed part of the team that made the diagnosis, told IOL.
‘We estimated he could lose 2 litres of blood with this extensive surgery, but we will use a special machine that can suck up all the blood that comes out while doing the surgery and then this machine cleans the blood and we can pump it back into him.’
SPECIAL PASSENGER: Makokou, a 34-year-old western lowland gorilla from the Johannesburg Zoo, made history recently when he was flown by helicopter to UP’s Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (@OPtuks) for a CT scan. Read more: https://t.co/IbQVB1Runy pic.twitter.com/VskBxcXDg0
— Univ. of Pretoria (@UPTuks) June 11, 2020
‘The outcome of the procedure will assist the Johannesburg Zoo in planning for the removal of the polyps in the nasal cavities at the Johannesburg Zoo hospital,’ the ZAH added on Facebook. The same team will assist in the procedure three weeks from now.
Makokou is a western lowland gorilla and was born in Wilhemina Zoo in Germany. He was brought to South Africa when he was 19 years old, according to the zoo. His mate, Lisa, died in 2006 of complications during a surgery to remove a lump from her armpit, according to IOL. He does not have a current partner, but the search is on.
Image credit: Twitter/University of Pretoria
