Penn vets help after fire at zoo

In the wake of tragedy, four members of the School of Veterinary Medicine spent a portion of their vacation performing necropsies -- animal autopsies -- on victims of a recent fire at the Philadelphia Zoo. A fire broke out at the nation's oldest zoo on the morning of December 24, and was finally under control at 1:09 a.m. The fire killed 23 primates including six western lowland gorillas, three Bornean orangutans, four white-handed gibbons and 10 lemurs. All are endangered species. Ten other primates were treated for smoke exposure. The fire is now under internal investigation. The primate exhibit has been closed indefinitely. But a sign reading, "It's a Girl!" remains outside the World of Primates remains, proclaiming the birth of one of the younger gorillas killed in the fire. Pathology Professor Michael Goldschmidt performed some of the necropsies on the orangutans. "Eventually we'll process the tissues and see if there are any abnormalities," Goldschmidt said. Veterinary School resident Denise McAloose performed necropsies on two lemurs and a gorilla on December 26. "The pathologists at the zoo look at the appropriate tissue samples to finalize the cause of death and categorize any changes that were incidental," McAloose said. She added that many primates are held in captivity because their environments are shrinking. Thus, many of them are in zoos and are utilized in breeding programs, she said. The three adult gorillas, John, Snickers and Samantha, were caught in the wild and had lived at the zoo since 1967. The gorillas have several offspring currently residing at other zoos. And Samantha was pregnant at the time of her death. Pathology Lecturer Donna Dambach worked with the male orangutan and assisted with the male gorilla. "The biggest problem is that most of the wild habitats of these animals will probably be gone at the turn of the century," she said. Dambach added that gorillas and orangutans will most likely not reside in free habitats anymore. "Zoos are no longer just museums for animals but also repositories for maintaining these species," she said. "Because their habitats are being destroyed, all of the endangered species are put into a database used for maintaining genetic diversity." Dambach said these primates had personalities and got along very well. "When you lose animals like these, you lose successful socially interactive groups," she said, adding that a portion of the gene pool is lost as well. "I would think that this would make people in other parks look at their alarm systems and reevaluate them if they need to," Dambach said. "They're beautiful animals -- so bright and so intelligent," McAloose said. "They are tools for continued learning." The zoo, which was slated to reopen on December 26, reopened January 2 due to the fire.