Mountain Gorilla Doctors have confirmed that the death of Ntobo, a female gorilla was caused by severe pneumonia with many abscesses in her lungs, and she had also suffered a miscarriage, probably because of the pneumonia.
Before her death on Friday 9 September Dr. Jean Felix Kinani from Karisoke Research Center (KRC) trackers requested a veterinary assessment for Ntobo, one of the females in the Bwenge group, who had become sick suddenly.
“When I checked on her, Ntobo appeared lethargic and had a dry cough and a high respiratory rate with audible respiration and Ntaribi, Ntobo’s 4-year-old infant, staying close to her,” the physician says.
The silverback Bwenge displayed when Ntobo was not moving with the rest of the group, and he pushed her gently, as if to encourage her to move. She slowly got up and joined the others. All the other gorillas in the group were looking fine but they seemed to know that Ntobo was sick and they kept checking on her.
The following morning Dr Kinani was accompanied by Dr. Jan Ramer from Gorilla Doctors, KRC trackers, Fundi Hategekimana and researcher Winnie Eckardt, also from Karisoke, and Volcanoes National Park Veterinary Warden Elisabeth Nyirakaragire.
They reached Bwenge group at 8:43 am and found Ntobo close to her son Ntaribi. She was lying on her stomach, trying to eat a little bit, but she was very weak and kept closing her eyes. Her respiratory rate increased from yesterday and was 48 breaths per minute.
Ntobo was darted anesthesia and sedated by 10:22 am. Silverback Bwenge charged for several minutes and dragged Ntobo a short distance. Her son Ntaribi cried but eventually rejoined the rest of his group around the perimeter.
The doctors performed a physical examination of Ntobo and saw that she was cachectic (suffering from loss of muscle mass), and dehydrated and had pale mucous membranes, an empty stomach, and some hair loss.
Blood samples were taken from the right femoral vein, and they also took viral and dry swabs samples from her mouth, throat, nose, vagina and anus. No urine was present. “We gave her injections of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drugs as well as IV fluids,” said Kinani.
“She was also injected with a reversal drug at 11:16 am but did not respond to it. We gave her the same does 30 minutes later, again with no response. Her mucous membranes turned white (a sign of lack of oxygen) and so Dr. Jan put an intubation tube down her throat and blew several breaths into Ntobo’s lungs.
Ntobo began breathing again and her mucous became pink, but her temperature started to drop. We tried to warm her and stimulate her by rubbing her body for 2 hours, but she finally stopped breathing and died at 1:50 pm,” says Dr Kinani.
On Saturday, Dr Ramer noted that Ntobo’s body was carried off the mountain and taken Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project’s (MGVP) headquarters for a necropsy, where they found that Ntobo had severe pneumonia with many abscesses in her lungs, and she had also suffered a miscarriage, probably because of the pneumonia.
“We are all so sad. The Gorilla Doctors and trackers from KRC and the Rwanda Development Board will keep a close eye on the rest of the gorillas in the park to see if any other animals show signs of respiratory disease,” said Ramer.
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