Fully vaccinated Gorilla dies with multiple organ abnormalities.

Martha, a fully vaccinated, highly endangered Western Lowland gorilla at Gladys Porter Zoo, died suddenly from  multiple organ abnormalities.According to the Zoo Facebook post, Martha, was being treated for a urinary tract infection but did not appear to have any underlying issues. Keepers claim they were "shocked and devastated" to discover she died during the night.However, following her death, a necropsy revealed that Martha had serious health issues.

"Upon necropsy, we discovered that she had various organ problems, which triggered a life-ending cascade," stated Dr. Tom deMaar, Senior Veterinarian at the Zoo. "The chain reaction started with fibrosing heart disease, which proceeded to renal failure."

According to Gladys Porter Zoo 

Martha was the last gorilla baby born to the Zoo’s matriarch and patriarch, Katunga and Lamydoc. While Lamydoc and Katunga produced 11 offspring, Katunga was never very interested in raising any of them. Accordingly, Martha was raised by staff and then successfully integrated back into the troop. Despite being hand-raised, she was an excellent mother to her six offspring, including Asha and Megan (now on loan to the Dallas Zoo) and Tracy James (now on loan to the Houston Zoo). Another one of her offspring, Margaret, still resides at Gladys Porter Zoo and is now rearing a baby of her own. Martha’s last baby, Kruger, is nearly three years old. He is currently being cared for by the troop, under the protective eye of his father, Mbundi.

In July 2021, the  Zoo declared its intention to vaccine its animals for COVID  citing worries about the difficulties of treating particular animals for respiratory diseases

.“We know that tigers can get COVID, lions can get it, gorillas and other species.”Dr  Demaar said. “One of our definite vulnerabilities is the giraffe feeding deck because I have unknown humans of unknown vaccine status interacting very close with my giraffes.”. The challenge would be administering treatment, you know, for a severe respiratory disease; we certainly cannot give them oxygen masks and have them carry around an oxygen bottle,” Demar said.