MBOMBELA – Vets of Casterbridge Animal Hospital rushed to Chimp Eden last week to save the life of a very ill chimpanzee.
Recently, the Jane Goodall Institute South Africa Chimpanzee Eden noticed that one of its primates, Mary (estimated to be almost 10 years old), had completely lost her appetite and seemed to be depressed.
Upon arrival, Dr Reynier Oelofsen and Dr Graeme Harman immediately conducted tests to see what was causing Mary’s despair. Netcare 911 personnel were also on the scene. At first, they thought that the problem might be a uterus infection, but an ultrasound scan showed no evidence. Dr Albertus Coetzee of West Acres Hospital was then called in.
He assisted in doing an ultrasound in the comfort of Mary’s own home. If it wasn’t for the portable machine he provided, she would have had to have been transported to Kiaat Hospital for a sonar, with the risk of her waking up before the procedure was complete, as she was under for only 90 minutes.
After sedation, and eventually anaesthesia, blood and urine samples were also drawn and examined. Various tests were done, but there were no signs of malaria or diabetes, which were common among chimps. However, they showed that an infection was present, which led to a diagnosis of kidney failure. This was what was causing her energy to be depleted.
A course of antibiotics was then prescribed to try and get the infection under control. Additional medication, of which the dose was calculated based on her weight, was also prescribed to provide her with more energy, to increase her appetite and reduce nausea.
She is now being kept in a separate pen until she is strong enough to be independent, but she still has contact with other chimps so as not to feel lonely as they are very social animals. However, cases like these have their challenges because theses animals can quickly outwit humans. Oelofsen says they have a very keen sense of smell and can easily detect medication hidden in their food. “They can be like a stubborn kid,” he says.
Time is of the essence as a stomach ulcer can start to form if Mary does not react well to the medication, which can have devastating effects. He adds that they are now in constant contact with Chimp Eden to monitor her progress, and it seems as if she’s improving. The infection and the toxins in her blood are decreasing and she has more energy which has resulted gradual return of her appetite. She will now undergo a check-up to see what the next step will be, determined by the results of more blood and urine tests.
In 2008 the Sudanese military had confiscated Mary from alleged poachers who had killed her mother and the rest of her family after which they tried to sell her. She was rescued and had now been at the institute ever since.
Read more stories on Chimp Eden:
World unites to give chimps a new home
Legendary chimp conservationist to visit Lowveld later this month
