{"id":94018,"date":"2024-12-17T12:07:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T10:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=94018"},"modified":"2024-12-17T12:07:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T10:07:07","slug":"binga-the-gorilla-on-his-way-to-recovery-after-successful-tooth-extraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/binga-the-gorilla-on-his-way-to-recovery-after-successful-tooth-extraction\/","title":{"rendered":"Binga the gorilla on his way to recovery after successful tooth extraction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
\n17 December 2024 | 12:06 CAT
\n3-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"

National Zoological Garden (Facebook)<\/p><\/div>\n

A 23-year-old silverback gorilla made for an unusual dental patient at the National Zoological Garden in Pretoria on 6 December 2024, capturing the attention of experts and students alike. Binga was diagnosed with periodontal disease, also known as gum disease,\u00a0a group of inflammatory conditions that affect tissues and bones that support the teeth.<\/p>\n

The treatment included a comprehensive dental evaluation and was a collaborative effort involving a team of specialists from the National Zoological Garden and the University of Pretoria.<\/p>\n

The zoological team started the process weeks in advance, training the 180 kg gorilla to sleep separately from his three companions in his night room so zoo officials could anaesthetise him on the day of the surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot anaesthetise one of the apes amongst all the others. They would protect each other, and you wouldn\u2019t be able to work with them,\u201d veterinary dentistry and maxillofacial specialist Professor Gerhard Steenkamp, who performed the procedure, explained<\/a> earlier today on Radio Islam International.<\/p>\n

The team also worked to build Binga\u2019s trust so they could inject the anaesthetic instead of darting him.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually with these wild animals, we have to dart them, especially for the great apes, it can be quite traumatic. So this whole process of getting him ready was also for him to allow one of the veterinarians to inject him with the anaesthesia,\u201d Professor Steenkamp said.<\/p>\n

Binga was taken to the theatre complex situated within the zoo, where he underwent a comprehensive dental evaluation. Once in theatre, Professor Steenkamp took x-rays while his colleague conducted an ultrasound evaluation and echocardiography. The bone loss around Binga\u2019s tooth meant an extraction was required, and after the procedure, Binga was taken back to his enclosure to rest and recover.<\/p>\n

Periodontitis is caused by a build-up of bacteria that invades the structures surrounding the tooth and is a relatively common condition that affects humans, gorillas and other great apes<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I took the radiograph, I could see there was a lot of bone loss around that tooth. And Binga had a draining sinus on the side of his face. There was some blood and pus coming out,\u201d Professor Steenkamp explained. \u201cWhen you get to the point where you\u2019ve got such bone loss that the infection has spread, and in his case, already draining outside of the mouth, it\u2019s impossible to save that tooth, so I had to extract the tooth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gorillas are ground-dwelling great apes, highly social primates with an extraordinary variety of complex social structures and can live for up to 60 years in captivity. Comparable to humans, they require a great deal of healthcare and undergo routine yearly or two-year check-ups.<\/p>\n

The University of Pretoria has a memorandum of understanding with the National Zoological Garden to aid in animal healthcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just wonderful when we work with a special patient like this. Everybody gets a lot of input and gets a lot experience,\u201d Professor Steenkamp said, adding that cases like these provide excellent opportunities for university students enrolled in various faculties, including the wildlife, dentistry or radiology clinics. Some students are selected to participate in and attend the procedure, which gives them a leg up in their chosen field.<\/p>\n

Veterinary studies remain a popular career path for many students and a competitive field at the University of Pretoria\u2019s Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (OVAH) which has a limited capacity of about 190 spots but receives 1\u00a0800-2\u00a0000 applications per year.<\/p>\n

Listen <\/strong>to the full interview<\/a> on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Habib Bobat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za 17 December 2024 | 12:06 CAT 3-minute read A 23-year-old silverback gorilla made for an unusual dental patient at the National Zoological Garden in Pretoria on 6 December 2024, capturing the attention of experts and students alike. Binga was diagnosed with periodontal disease, also known as gum disease,\u00a0a group of inflammatory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":94019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/binga.jpg?fit=1642%2C1095&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-osq","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-19 04:02:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}