Gorilla Goes to Emergency Room
Over the weekend, the Nebraska Medical Center opened its doors to a unique patient: Tubby the gorilla. Apparently, Tubby (his given name is Motuba) got into it with another male gorilla at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo.
During feeding time, zookeepers responded to a commotion in Tubby’s enclosure and noticed that his canine tooth was sticking out at an odd angle. He was sedated and transported to the hospital, where handlers covered him with a blanket and rolled him through the emergency room doors.
“It’s possible that he was punched by another gorilla, but we’ll never know what happened for sure,” said Doug Armstrong, director of animal health at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.
Tubby, who’s in his mid-twenties, was brought to the hospital because his injury required a CT scan. Doctors diagnosed a fractured jaw and operated on him in the scanning room. He is now convalescing back at the zoo, where he’s expected to make a full recovery. Good for Tubby, who probably isn’t happy with his soft diet of microwaved vegetables and mushy biscuits.
--Jake Abrahamson is the editorial assistant at Sierra
Images courtesy of Francois Bates
Other Zoo News: Check out this video (below) of Shanthi the elephant playing harmonica.
