Born: July 27 at the Henry Doorly Zoo
Parents: Omaha zoo's Timu, 13, and Samson, 14
Where to see him: Nursery set up at the Hubbard Gorilla Valley
Name: The right to name him will be something people can bid on at the zoo's autumn fundraiser, Zoofari, at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 11. Reservations are $150 a person. For more information, call 738-2073 or visit www.omahazoofoundation.org.
A lot of hard work went into making Timu, a gorilla at the Henry Doorly Zoo, a good mother.
And it paid off, said zoo director Dennis Pate. She was a good mother — for a few weeks.
A week ago, though, the baby gorilla somehow suffered a broken left arm. Because he was so small and the injury serious, zoo workers removed him from Timu's care after anesthetizing her.
The workers, who realized something was wrong because the little gorilla wouldn't quit crying and his arm looked strange, called in Dr. T. Kevin O'Malley of GIKK Ortho Specialists in Omaha to be a consultant. He discovered a break in the left humerus, the big bone that runs from shoulder to elbow.
Although O'Malley's patients are usually humans, he said the bone structures are similar. Gorillas are the same as humans except they move a little faster, have thicker skin and more hair, he said Friday.
O'Malley devised a bandage that holds the baby gorilla's arm tight against his chest. It has reduced the pain and stopped the baby's crying.
“All infants — human or animal — have tremendous potential to heal,” O'Malley said.
Luckily, gorillas also heal quickly. The bandage will be removed in 10 days to two weeks. In three weeks, the gorilla will be healed enough to use his arm. And in eight weeks, it will be almost completely healed.
Meanwhile, the youngster had to be removed from the gorilla enclosure because the mother and grandmother gorillas could re-injure him.
The challenge for zoo officials is to make sure the little animal never forgets he is a gorilla during the healing process. Staff members who hold him wear a shaggy vest that replicates a mother gorilla's hair. The baby is being tended in a nursery area set up next to the enclosure holding his mother and grandmother. They can see and smell him and touch him through mesh, and vice versa.
On Friday morning, Timu was at the mesh, watching closely as humans changed the infant's bandage.
“He won't bond with humans,” Pate said. “It's very different from what would have happened a few years ago.”
Dan Houser, curator of large mammals at the zoo, said the young gorilla will be reintroduced to the gorilla enclosure in four or five months. He's not sure whether Timu or the grandmother gorilla will take over raising it.
“The gorillas will decide,” he said.
The young gorilla will remain at the Henry Doorly Zoo for six to eight years, Houser said. When he gets ready to mate, he will be sent to another zoo.
The whole episode has shaken the zoo staff.
Since the accident happened overnight, Pate said, no one knows what caused the break. Timu could have rolled over on the baby or grabbed him wrong, or one of the other gorillas could have pulled his arm.
It's been a long road for staff members, Pate said. They have worked with Timu for almost six years.
“And we were so happy. She was a great mom — for three weeks.”
Contact the writer:
444-1067, carol.bicak@owh.com
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