Gorilla Dies Unexpectedly

What's causing the shocking deaths of zoo animals?

Last week, Martha, a Western lowland gorilla who was the mother of six, died unexpectedly. She was 32 years old.

Martha and two of her children lived at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. An oasis nestled in the center of the state (according to the zoo’s website), the Gladys Porter Zoo is home to some 1,600 wild animals.

The average lifespan of a western lowland zoo gorilla is at least fifty years, according to the zoo’s website. The last gorilla who died there, a patriarch named Lamydoc, was sixty. (He was euthanized due to declining health on February 22, 2022.)

While gorillas are the largest great apes, western lowland gorillas are the smallest of this subspecies. They’re native to the Congo Basin, along the Equator in west-central Africa. These highly intelligent primates are known to be peaceful and non-aggressive, according to Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered.

The unexpected death of a healthy endangered gorilla should make zoologists around the world take notice.

What Killed Martha?

According to news report, which Dr. Stephanie Seneff shared on Twitter:

Zookeepers noticed Martha was slow to respond on the morning of April 19. She was being treated for a urinary tract infection but no signs of a more serious illness were present. Martha passed away later that night. A preliminary inspection after her death revealed Martha suffered from multiple issues.

“Upon necropsy, we found that she had multiple organ abnormalities, which, in turn, created a life-ending cascade,” said Dr. Tom deMaar, the Zoo’s Senior Veterinarian. “The cascade began with fibrosing heart disease, which led to renal failure.” 

The zoo notes that gorillas are checked on a daily basis for any sign of illness.

A healthy gorilla whose diet, exercise, and lifestyle have not changed and who is checked every single day for health issues suddenly has multiple organ abnormalities? Heart disease which led to kidney failure? Why?

Vaccinating Zoo Animals Against COVID-19

At the end of July, 2021, the Gladys Porter Zoo announced that it would start vaccinating wild animals against COVID-19.

At that time, Zoetis, the company that makes animal version of the vaccine, donated more than 11,000 doses “to help protect over 100 mammalian species living at nearly 70 zoos and more than a dozen conservatories, sanctuaries, academic institutions, and government organizations located in 27 states,” according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“The initial development work and studies for the vaccine were completed on dogs and cats,” the AVMA reported. “In these preliminary studies, the vaccine was demonstrated to be safe and to have a reasonable expectation of efficacy, according to Zoetis.”

On July 23, 2021, the Gladys Porter Zoo’s senior veterinarian, Dr. Thomas Demaar, told a journalist that no animals at the zoo had contracted or died from COVID-19 but the zoo wanted to be extra cautious to keep the animals safe.

“We know that tigers can get it, lions can get it, gorillas and other species.” Dr. Demaar told a journalist. “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.”

Has the “treatment” become worse than the disease? Could Lamydoc’s declining health and Martha’s sudden death have been caused by an aggressive and likely completely unnecessary vaccination campaign?

As I’ve written about previously, Shanghai health workers beat a corgi to death and 17 million minks were gassed because of the human fear of COVID-19. Now endangered gorillas are dying. How many more humans and animals have to be harmed before the world wakes up?

Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D., graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University, earned her M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, and her Ph.D. from Emory University. She is a contributing writer at the Epoch Times and the author/editor/co-author/co-editor of eight books. Please support her independent journalism by subscribing to her Substack and sharing this post with friends and family members. Or simply buy her a cup of coffee via Venmo: @Jennifer-Margulis-2.