Three gorillas at Riverbanks Zoo receive ultrasound exams for heart issues

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)— February is American Heart Month. The month is a great reminder for people to check on their cardiovascular health. But it’s not just humans that need to worry about their hearts. Three gorillas at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden have heart issues of their own.

Riverbanks Zoo’s Director of Animal Health, Dr. Martha Weber, says Cenzoo, a 27-year-old Western Lowland gorilla, has heart disease. Cenzoo even takes blood pressure medicine.

“And it’s not the same as in people where a lot of times it’s a blocked artery causing the problem, it’s actually something in the structure of their heart that doesn’t allow it to fill and contract,” says Weber.

Two other older gorillas, Acacia and Patrick, are at risk for heart issues and are monitored as well.

As a safer alternative to anesthesia, Weber says she and other specialists perform ultrasounds on the gorillas at least once a year to keep track of their heart’s condition.

“Our team has been doing a lot of work with the gorillas — training them to accept these ultrasound exams voluntarily while they’re awake. And it can be tricky because we have to move the probe around to get a lot of the different views, and so we may not get everything we need in one training session. But over several sessions, we can get all those different views to see how their hearts are working,” Weber says.

Gorilla and small mammal keeper, Brooke Hunsinger, says the process is quick and painless.

“If we’re just doing a practice run, it can take maybe 5-10 minutes. If we have a stenographer and they’re doing some of the imagery, it can take 15-20 minutes with one individual,” Hunsinger says.

According to Weber and Hunsinger, gorillas in captivity tend to live much longer than gorillas in the wild.

A project called The Great Ape Heart Project is looking into why gorillas in human care sometimes develop heart issues.

“Is it hereditary, is it genetic, is it dietary, are we giving them too many sweets in their diet? We try to keep that to a minimum,” says Hunsinger.

Even with heart conditions, they say gorillas in human care tend to live longer than gorillas in the wild. The oldest gorillas at zoos are in their early sixties.

Hunsinger says people who visit the zoo can do their parts to protect the gorillas by donating old cell phones.  Cell phones and other small electronics contain a mineral called coltan that is mined in Africa in critical gorilla habitats. Because of this mining, trees and habitats are destroyed. Recycling old phones can help reduce this mining process.

To encourage healthier hearts and give the gorillas even more activity, construction on a new climbing structure is set to begin at Gorilla Base Camp in the next couple of weeks.