Captive gorilla heart health and a funny little thing
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ksigler
moderator
One of the first things that came to mind when I saw this guy was, how strong his heart must be to power that massive body at high altitudes!
Fast forward... I came across this video that I thought was pretty interesting, and decided to share. It's part of a series on measuring the heart health of captive apes, which is a big issue for them to due to unnatural diets. In this one, zookeepers demonstrate how they perform ultrasounds on gorillas' hearts while they're awake. Apparently they don't care for the gel, but who does? https://youtu.be/4utL6a4SmU4
Despite my original interest in the heart, the most memorable part for me ended up being around 3 minutes 50 seconds... When the zookeeper feeds the gorilla what looks like apple slices as a reward for holding still, she puts it in his mouth. Like he's some kind of animal, right? Then the gorilla takes this dainty apple slice out of his mouth with his huge hand and eats it in multiple bites, like, "I prefer to eat this with a little class, thank you." 😃
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MimiA
scientist, moderator
brilliant! thanks for sharing @ksigler 😃
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jwidness
moderator
To be fair, their heart problems are not entirely due to unnatural diets. One thing the Great Ape Heart Project has found is that (like for humans) close relatives are more likely to have the same heart conditions, and even that each species is more likely to have specific conditions! I don't remember the exact issues, but just as an example, maybe gorillas are more likely to have atrial fibrillation, while chimps are more likely to have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. So clearly genetics plays a significant role here.
Nice video though, and your interpretation was hilarious. : )
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vestigial
Two of the gorillas I see on a regular basis had heart monitors implanted as part of this project. I haven't seen the results yet of all the study but from what I read jwidness is correct. Male gorillas in captivity have an average lifespan of about 35 years. That is thought to be longer than the lifespan in the wild so the heart disease could just be a normal result of old age and genetics, just like humans, for those gorillas that get to that age. I think it has been concerning though that adult males, in particular, have died in their twenties from heart disease. If I remember correctly, gorilla heart disease is a little different from humans in that the heart muscle tissue kind of hardens or becomes fibrous making it difficult for the heart to pump and then that leads to other problems like congestive heart failure or arrhythmia. I'm by no means an expert on this and I could be totally wrong about what I remember from the last time we had a briefing about the project but I don't think it was necessarily a diet or even exercise issue. It is a really cool project and well worth following!
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vestigial
Oh, and by the way, the panda at the zoo absolutely loves the ultrasound gel. She anoints herself with it and rolls around like a kid when her ultrasound is done.
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ksigler
moderator
Thanks for the additional info, guys! Internet searches turn up all kinds of things (and then I paraphrase them). I really appreciate having expertise right here for the full scoop. 😃
@vestigial -- Thanks, I can imagine pandas playing in the gel. They are almost non-stop adorable! 😃
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