Oldest Borneo orangutan:

Bulu beams after successful operation

By Dhaneshi YATAWARA

Veterinary experts of the National Zoological Garden successfully saved the life of the oldest Borneo Orangutan, Bulu, performing the first laparotomy operation in the local veterinary field.

Laparotomy is a surgical procedure where a large incision on the body is used to reach the abdomen cavity to treat an illness or a disorder or even for diagnostic purposes.

If the nature of a disease is unknown exploratory laparotomy (diagnostic laparotomy) a.k.a. Ex-Lap is considered as one of the best ways to diagnose the cause. Today Bulu is in perfect shape showing no symptoms of an earlier illness other than its old age.

Vets preparing for the surgery

Veterinary Surgeons D.S. Kodikara and Jagath Jayasekara operating on Bulu

Though we as humans share almost 97 percent of the same genetic material with orangutans which are considered as humankind's closest relative in evolution, veterinarians still find it wild when medically treating the animal. Clothed with bright reddish brown hair which is unique among the apes, this largest tree-living mammal finds hard to survive facing extinction.

Zoological Gardens around the world, playing a leading role in conservation of world fauna, take great effort to conserve the genetics of this precious species. The Sri Lanka's National Zoological Garden in Dehiwala has four Borneo orangutans. Baby 'Sakeefo' who is just 10 months old, his mother and father and Bulu the oldest, form the pack. Sakeefo's birth in November last year was significant for the Dehiwala zoo in their conservation efforts. Recently, Bulu's life was saved by Sri Lankan vet experts again highlighting the country's contribution to orangutan conservation. Born in 1976 Bulu was brought to Sri Lanka in 1981 from the Roterdham zoo in Netherlands.

Bulu weighs 139 kilograms which is higher than a normal Borneo orangutan, according to Jagath Jayasekara, Veterinary Surgeon of the Department of Zoological Gardens. Bulu is a hybrid. And it doesn't necessarilly show characteristics of the Borneo type," Jayasekara said.

A hybrid? According to the present classifications the Borneo orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) has three sub species - 'Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus' , 'Pongo pygmaeus morio', 'Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii '. Parents from two of these three sub species would give birth to hybrid orangutan. "Life expectancy of a hybrid orangutan is low compared to a normal Borneo type. For Bulu, who is 35 now, is actually spending his old age," Jayasekara pointed out. It is almost similar to a 70-year-old man.

This 35-year-old male orangutan started showing abnormal behaviour several months ago, noticed the veterinarians of the zoo. As Jayasekara elaborated Bulu started to crawl and roll instead of its usual 'walk'. " First we thought this was due to its old age," Jayasekara said. Later Bulu lost interest in food which is a concern in animal health. By nature, Bulu has been aggressive and examining it was a problem. Using long distance methods the veterinarians found Bulu show no sign of other diseases and continued to roll and crawl. Its condition needed to be examined further. Preliminary examinations were done in May. "We took the animal out of the cage after sedating and collect blood samples, ran a full body check up and found an unusual protrusion on the lower right side of the abdomen," Jayasekara said.

An ECG on Bulu

Measuring the feet

The fat tissue – weighing 2kg 400g

Bulu was diagnosed with hernia explaining its change in behaviour due to its pain. A surgery would be the only remedy. "First we needed to know whether its health condition was conducive for a surgery. For this we waited for blood reports that necessarily included levels of blood glucose, cholesterol, indications of its liver and kidney conditions and many others," Jayasekara explained. X-rays were taken to see the condition of its joints and tests were carried at the Chest Clinic Welisara for Tuberculosis. Reports turned out to be satisfactory with no other complications and Bulu was physically fit for surgery.

The veterinary team with Chief Veterinary Surgeon of the Department of Zoological Gardens Ramani Jayalath and Veterinary Surgeon Jagath Jayasekara had a discussion with the Director of the Zoological Gardens Bashwara Gunaratne on Bulu's treatment. In the recent past no cut-open ( laporotomy) surgery was done on an orangutan.

"Bulu showed natural symptoms of old age and in addition bringing male orangutans under an esthesia has its own risks," he said. Male orangutans larynx are specifically constructed by nature enabling them to make their unique sound which is called the 'long call'.

In outer appearance one can notice the throat sac compared to the throat of the female. The throat sac is used to make this notable and recognizable call that echoes through the forest. This is used to locate and advertise their presence to females or warn other males in the wild.

The surgery on Bulu was done on June 22. The identified cause needed a therapeutic laparotomy. Around 2 p.m. the veterinarians and animal caretakers of the surgical team brought half anesthetized Bulu to the surgical theatre. "The first part of the anesthesia was done while Bulu was in its cage and we transferred it to the theatre," Explaining the two and a half hour surgery Jayasekara said. In treating wildlife, either in the jungles or the zoo, pre-anaesthetic evaluation is not possible and the anaesthetist should be extra careful of the signs of the animal.

Senior Veterinary Surgeon D.S. Kodikara headed the team while Veterinary Surgeon Jayasekara did the anaesthetic part and surgery along with Veterinary Surgeons A.

Bandula, Lasantha Perera, Samanthi Mendis. Along with Bulu caretakers Vincent and Chandrasiri a group of animal caretakers were also involved in the surgery.

Bulu was given oxygen and the necessary medicine through the saline drip to stop anaesthesia related complications that may occur during a surgery. Slowly, steadily and keeping all the conditions perfect the veterinary team extracted a fat tissue weighing two kilograms and 400 grams.

"Though we kept Hernia mesh to place in the animal as the treatment the hernia condition was not too bulky when the lypoma (benign tumor) was removed," Jayasekara added. The body tissues and muscles of the area were sufficient to support and stop the hernia from reappearing.

Following the surgery the animal was continuously monitored by Chief Veterinarian Ramani Jayalath and Veterinary Surgeons Prasad Zoysa, Ganga Wijesinghe and Arundathi Ponnaswamy. "Initially antibiotics were injected to the animal from a distance using projectile guns," Jayasekara said.

The team used antibiotic spray and later oral antibiotics in fruits along with extra vitamins.

"Orangutans are intelligent and it can use its fingers as humans to scratch the wound which could cause an infection. The distracting methods used by the team succeeded. When treating Bulu's favourite fruits were given to the animal.

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Indigenous Indonesians and Malaysians called the ape 'oranghutan' which in English, 'person of the forest'. Once this species roamed thousands of miles across the rain forests of Southeast Asia. Today they survive only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra - Borneo orangutan ('Pongo pygmaeus') and the Sumatran orangutan ('Pongo abelli').

The Sumatran species is critically endangered and the Bornean species is endangered according to the IUCN Red List of mammals. Two generations of the orangutan family (Sub Family - 'Poingnae') have already gone extinct. Experts estimate orangutans could be extinct in less than 25 years. Orangutans have lost approximately 80% of their habitat in the past 20 years.

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