6 days Ago
Vets had a very unusual patient pop in for treatment on an agonising toothache – a giant 29-stone silverback gorilla. A zoo in South Africa asked for help when its prime breeding primate, Binga, stopped eating and was feeling sorry for himself. An examination showed a painful ulcer full of poison on a molar in his lower jaw that needed treating.
So the 23-year-old Western Lowland gorilla was darted with a tranquiliser and sent to the dentist. To deal with such a mighty ape, a team of six experts had to be assembled to keep Binga safe and unconscious during the two-hour procedure. They even held his enormous hand until it was all over.
Once the problem was fixed, the gorilla was back on his feet and knuckles and reunited with his family at the zoo. Professor Katja Koeppel was part of the vet team. She said: "This gorilla is 185kg's or pure muscle and it can go from knocked out to wide awake in seconds and you can do nothing to hold it on the table.
That is why I have to make sure I get the anaesthetic exactly right as if Binga woke up there is little we could do which is why a gun team is on full stand-by. Image: Dr Giovana Martins/Prof Katja Koeppol) Dr Giovana Martins/Prof Katja Koeppol) "Taking a gorilla to the dentist is very different to a human. When I tranquilised Binga with a shot through the bars of his cage, he charged me.
.. (Image: Dr Giovana Martins/Prof Katja Koeppol).
