Brawling gorilla treated at Nebraska hospital

Doctors at a Nebraska hospital had an unusual patient recently after a fight with a companion led to a gorilla being admitted for a CT scan

Motuba, a 27-year-old silverback male, was treated at Nebraska Medical Centre after a scuffle with another gorilla at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo.

Hospital spokesman Paul Baltes said the gorilla was kept separate from human patients, and the medical centre’s infection-control department was involved in the procedure to ensure there was no contamination.

“It wasn’t life threatening but we knew we had to address it,” said Doug Armstrong, director of animal health at the zoo.

Motuba is among four silverbacks that socialise at the zoo.

Mr Armstrong said Motuba and one of the younger gorillas apparently got into a fight that left the older gorilla with a fractured jaw that pushed three of his teeth outward. No one saw the fight, so it is unclear exactly what happened.

“It’s just the nature of male gorillas that you have conflicts,” Mr Armstrong said, noting that the group dynamics have been in a state of flux for a few weeks, with the younger ones trying to secure a more prominent role.

After surveying Motuba’s injuries, doctors removed a piece of the gorilla’s jaw and the askew teeth.

While a human could have had his or her jaw repaired and wired shut to heal or could have had teeth replaced with dentures, those treatments do not work for gorillas, Mr Armstrong said.

Motuba will be on a special soft diet for the next week and kept off display until zoo staff can assess how his peers will react to his return, he said.

Areas of the hospital that the gorilla was in will be thoroughly cleaned.