Sedated 7-year-old gorilla deemed healthy after head-to-toe exam

Surrounded by a team of doctors, veterinarians and zookeepers, Woodland Park Zoo's 7-year-old western lowland gorilla got her first head-to-toe physical yesterday — complete with dental checkup, tuberculosis test, X-rays, ultrasounds and a pelvic exam.

The team gathered medical readings as quickly as possible during the two-hour procedure, while the gorilla, Nadiri, lay anesthetized on a gurney. Doctors often volunteer at the zoo, helping vets treat creatures large and small, from birds to elephants. And in the case of gorillas and humans, there are, of course, many similarities.

"They're very related," said Dr. Mark Lowmiller, an anesthesiologist at Swedish Medical Center.

At 4 feet tall and 178 pounds, Nadiri is not yet full grown; female western lowland gorillas can weigh up to 300 pounds.

"She looks great — darling, healthy," pronounced Dr. Robin Cole, an OB-GYN from Seattle Women's Clinic. The only treatments prescribed for Nadiri: a baby tooth had to be pulled out, and she was given a little moisturizer for chapped feet.

A goal of yesterday's exam was to gauge Nadiri's fertility.

Cole's prognosis was positive. "You're all set for having babies when you are ready," Cole said of the gorilla.

Gorillas typically age faster than humans. At 7, Nadiri is about as mature as a 12- to 14-year-old human. Though she is approaching her sexual maturity, her physicians and vets think she is still too young to breed. To prevent pregnancy, she is being given a low-dose birth-control pill. "She's still a teenager," said gorilla keeper Hugh Bailey.

As such, she can get a little rowdy, sometimes playing too roughly with the babies in her group. She also will hoist long sticks through the gorilla keepers' window and knock things off their desk.

But she's also quite a charmer, dubbed "the Ambassador" for her people-friendly ways.

"She's a lot more interested in keepers and people than with other gorillas," Cole said. Nadiri frequently can be seen hanging out in front of the glass cage, looking at visitors.

Soon, though, a mate will be chosen.

Of the 380 gorillas in captivity in North American zoos, she is the only offspring of Congo, a male that died just weeks after Nadiri was born. She is one of 12 gorillas at the zoo, being kept in two separate groups.

Dan Wharton, an expert in matching gorillas for mating purposes and director of the Central Park Zoo in New York City, sees a possible match between Nadiri and the boy next door, Vip, a male gorilla in Woodland Park Zoo's other gorilla group.

Though Nadiri probably has smelled and glimpsed him, he remains somewhat unknown to her.

"A young female tends not to be very attracted to a male that she knows from childhood," Wharton said.

Vip, 24, has — even for a gorilla — a pronounced low brow ridge, giving him a stern look.

"There is the possibility that she may take one look at him and just say no," said Wharton, who added that the final choice rests with the gorilla.

Sarah Anne Wright: 206-464-2752 or swright@seattletimes.com