ARIZONA NEWS

Doctor performs live-saving surgery on orangutan at Phoenix Zoo

Mar 15, 2018, 6:34 PM

(Facebook Photo)...

(Facebook Photo)

(Facebook Photo)

PHOENIX — A doctor more accustomed to treating human beings recently saved the life of an orangutan at the Phoenix Zoo in a first-of-its-kind surgery in the United States.

The zoo’s executive president of animal health, Gary West, said the animal had been coughing a good deal and having headaches prior to the surgery.

“We had evaluated him a couple of times with a CT scanner and those examinations revealed that he had a chronic sinus infection that just wasn’t getting better with medical treatment,” he said of the 12-year-old Bornean orangutan known as Daniel.

Had his sinusitis and airsacculitis gone untreated, Daniel could have died.

West said zoo staff decided to reach out to Dr. David Sims, who heads the ear, nose and throat division at St. Joseph’s Hospital, to ask him for assistance.

“He, I think, thought we were joking at first, but was definitely willing to talk to us about how he could help us out,” West said.

The surgery was a success. West said it was clear Daniel was feeling back to his old self after the procedure.

“Since the surgery, he’s been much more bright and alert,” West said. “He seems to be much happier and feeling much better. The cough is very, very in frequent now.”

KTAR News’ Ali Vetnar contributed to this report.

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Doctor performs live-saving surgery on orangutan at Phoenix Zoo