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Show HERALD DAILY A10 Sunday, April 6, 2008 Scientists search for cause of heart failure in zco gorillas Todd Lewan THE ASSOCIATED lowland gorilla suddenly PRESS col- lapsed after playing with some newly introduced mates. By the time the keepers cleared . at out the other gorillas and tried CPR on Mopie, the gentle, a giant was lifeless victim of heart failure at 34. Like his father, who had died the same way at the zoo in the early 1990s, Mopie had previously been diagnosed with an unexplained form of heart dis- -. ease known as fibrosing cardiomyopathy, in which healthy heart muscle turns into fibrous bands unable to pump blood. And yet, he had not shown any outward symptoms, and his AP diet and behavior were normal This photo provided by the "There was nothing to indicate he was feeling poorly Smithsonian Institution or under the weather," recalls shows Mopie, a western Stevens. "That's what made it lowland gorilla who died in 2006. even more of a shock." No less troubling, two days earlier the National Zoo had lost its only other male group Which is why Stevens and the zoo's staff were so stunned leader, a silverback named whea on the afternoon of July Kuja. Diagnosed just a month earlier with congestive heart 3, 2006, this prized western F Mopie looked the picture of ape fitness: His shoulders were broad and imposing, his silver-haire- d back sculpted and muscular, his biceps bulging as wide as a wrestler's thighs 1 when he scratched his head. He had a healthy appetite (he'd put away 7 pounds of food daily) and Mopie was "V no couch gorilla, either: He'd nimbly scale the mesh of his enclosures at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C, playfully chase the younger gorillas, and perch himself high in an out door maple, as if to show the world he was the king of the Great Ape House. The unique thing about Mopie was how extremely handsome he was," says Lisa Stevens, curator of primates and giant pandas at the National Zoo, and whenever the silverback sat, proudly, in the exhibit's trees, "it just added to his impressiveness." r 430-pou- r i factors may be causing the illnesses and what might be KOO-yah- ) died while undergodone to save the 368 lowland gorillas that currently reing surgery to receive an advanced pacemaker. He was 23. side in 52 zoos across North Sadly, Mopie and Kuja were America. not alone. A 1994 study of 74 captive Gorillas in zoos around the gorilla deaths, published by nation, particularly males and veterinarians Tom Meehan of those in their 20snnd 30s, have the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago and Linda Lowenstine of the been falling ill and sometimes dying suddenly from University of California at Davis, found that 41 percent progressive heart ailments to and 70 percent of males aneurisms from ranging older than 30 were from valvular disease to cardiomyheart disease, mainly fibrosing opathy. Just two months before the cardiomyopathy. deaths at the National Zoo, the That study was a wake up San Francisco Zoo had lost a call," says Meehan, now the lowland gorilla named Pogo to vice president for veterinary services at the Chicago Zooheart disease. A week before that, the Memphis Zoo lost logical Society. It showed the one named Tumai the same need to "go to the next level of evaluating the animals and way. And in previous years, there were others: Akbar at . figuring out how their lifestyle the Toledo Zoo in 2005, and in related to their health." In the 2000 both Sam at the Knoxville when the Zoo and Michael at the Gorilla study was published, about Foundation in California. 100,000 western lowland goNow zookeepers are scram- rillas roamed freely within vast forests in Cameroon, the bling to understand what Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola and Nigeria Far less endangered than their relatives, the moun- failure related to cardiomyopathy, Kuja (pronounced mid-1990- s, tain gorillas, these apes were officially considered only as "vulnerable." Since then, however, lowland gorillas in the wild have been dying at an accelerating rate. Poaching, logging, a dramatic expansion in the trade of bushmeat, and outbreaks of Ebola have reduced their numand bers to roughly 30,000 in September, the species was reclassified as "critically endangered." At their current rate of decline, the gorillas are projected to disappear from theVild by 2050. "Soon, these great apes may only exist in captivity," says Haley Murphy, director of veterinary services at Zoo New England, which runs . Boston's Franklin Park Zoo and the Stone Zoo in Stone-haMass. The zoos are home to seven western lowland gorillas, the only species kept in captivity. In 2000, Murphy, together with Dr. liana Kutinsky, a cardiologist with the Michigan Heart Group, began reviewing cardiac ultrasounds of zoo gorillas in hopes of discovering why the animals were at risk for heart trouble. - - ) J r ft lilff Sl I : -- mow idfaa&i; Hfi! Ask your litJ car dealer for Utah's top auto lender. 5.1 America First Credit Union is Utah's number one auto loan financial fostitution. And there are plenty of reasons Mb for A it Our great rates. Excellent service. superior overall lending experience. 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