Mountain Gorillas : Gorilla Baby Dies from Broken Arm

November's Field News from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund reports sad news from Pablo's Group. The staff of the Karisoke Research Center have reported that a baby born to Maggie on October 9th 2006 has died.

One month after his birth, the infant was observed with a swollen right arm. It was later established that the upper arm was broken. The incident that led to the wound is unknown. It is possible that the infant was hurt during an aggressive interaction between Maggie and another group member. The field veterinarians from the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project monitored the situation. Frustratingly, there is little that we can do to assist in such situations in the wild. If the infant had survived the injury we do not believe that he would have had a good quality of life with no chance of using that arm for walking or manipulating food items.

Full story at DFGFI Field News page.