COLUMBUS – Veterinarians were successful in preventing the spread of a tumor detected under the arm of Colo, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s 59-year-old gorilla matriarch.
A pathology report indicated a mass removed on Dec. 3 was a malignant tumor but the surgery team had removed it with clean, wide margins and the comprehensive medical examination did not indicate the tumor had spread, zoo spokeswoman Patty Peters said.
No additional treatment is planned, she said.
“Surgery poses some risk and this procedure required thoughtful consideration and extensive planning,” said Tom Stalf, zoo president and CEO. “The results of the pathology report make it clear that this surgery was necessary to prevent the tumor from spreading and becoming life threatening.”
Colo is the first gorilla in the world born in a zoo and will celebrate her 60th birthday on Dec. 22.
Colo is the oldest gorilla on record, exceeding the normal life expectancy for a western lowland gorilla by more than two decades, Peters said.