Nathan 2000 - 20009

Des Moines, Iowa – May 16, 2009 – Nathan, an 8-year-old bonobo (Pan paniscus) living at Great Ape Trust, died Friday after a veterinary medical team at Iowa State University’s Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center in Ames diagnosed him with an advanced and inoperable stage of lymphoma.

Nathan was anesthetized and transported to the Veterinary Hospital Friday morning after he experienced breathing difficulties that required the insertion of a breathing tube, said Great Ape Trust veterinarian Dr. Brigetta Hughes. Diagnostic testing by a team headed by Dr. Robert R. King, a senior clinician at the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center, revealed a malignant tumor surrounding Nathan’s trachea and esophagus that was later determined to be lymphoma.

“Surgery was not an option because of the location of the tumor, and further testing made it clear that treatment options were limited, with minimal chance of survival,” Hughes said.

Once it was determined that nothing more could be done for Nathan at Iowa State, the decision was made to return him to his home at Great Ape Trust. He died peacefully en route while under sedation. Even though he had been intebated, the tube was not effective because of increased inflammation of his trachea at the bronchi, the point where it joins the lungs.

Despite being humans’ closest-living relative with 98.5 percent similar genetic makeup, options that would have been available to a human with this condition, such as a tracheotomy, are not available to an ape, Hughes said.

In humans, lymphoma is often called a silent killer because symptoms are minor or nonexistent in the early stages. Symptoms often mimic those of common illnesses that are usually not life threatening.

The usually active young bonobo had displayed symptoms that appeared to be consistent with allergies for several weeks, though his condition was not acute. He was treated with over-the-counter remedies, and ape caretakers also tried to rule out common allergies by eliminating certain foods from his diet and trying different cleaning supplies.

Anesthesia can be dangerous to great apes, so a conventional treatment course was first followed. When Nathan’s condition did not improve and he began to exhibit signs of breathing difficulty, the ape was anesthetized and Hughes inserted the breathing tube.

Operations Director Jim Aipperspach praised the efforts of the Iowa State medical team. “Because of the high quality of the Iowa State veterinary program, our apes have access to some of the best medical care in the world,” Aipperspach said. “Everything that could’ve been done was done.”

Nathan, the son of Panbanisha and the late P-Suke, was born June 18, 2000 at the Language Research Center at Georgia State University, where Great Ape Trust’s seven bonobos lived before moving to Des Moines in 2005. He was the youngest of the bonobos living at The Trust and, along with Panbanisha and his brother Nyota, was among the first three to arrive in Des Moines.

Bonobos are among the world’s rarest animals, with only about 70 in captivity in the United States. Endangered in the wild, they are only found in Democratic Republic of Congo, where it is estimated populations are between 29,500 and 50,000. An   accurate count is difficult to obtain because of political instability in that country.