Baby gorilla "Kamari" dies at Busch Gardens
TAMPA, Fla. - Despite attempts to diagnose and further treat her condition, Busch Gardens Tampa announced Thursday the park's baby gorilla, "Kamari," has died.
After her birth in February of this year, animal care teams were watching Kamari's progress and had noticed she wasn't developing at the expected rate. She was having trouble suporting her body weight and wasn't using her lower extremities.
Through testing, the veterinary team believed she likely had a serious and progressive neurological condition and was going conduct an MRI. But Kamari, who was under a general anesthesia, didn't survive.
During the procedure, Kamari's heart rate and breathing dropped, and despite efforts to stabilize her, she died on Wednesday at 7 p.m. "While there are always risks associated with general anesthesia, especially with an animal that has a possible central nervous system disease, the greater risk in this case was the progressive nature of her disease," Busch Gardens said in a release.
Further testing will be conducted to find out what happened, but the results will not be back for several weeks. Busch Gardens will also be monitoring the well being of her mother, Mary, who is with the rest of the troop.
“This is certainly a difficult time for the Busch Gardens family, but we will learn from our experience with this animal, including the circumstances of her death, and share our insights within the zoological community so that we can continue to advance husbandry and veterinary care for this species,” said Busch Gardens veterinarian Dr. Peter Black.