MIAMI -- Cataract surgery has become pretty common, but surgeons in South Florida had their work cut out for them as they operated on a gorilla.
Officials from the Miami MetroZoo said Josephine, a 42-year-old gorilla, could only see shadows because of her eye condition.
A special team of veterinarians and medical specialists went in to fix the problem.
Since gorillas like Josephine are expected to only live to be about 50, the operation came with some risks.
“The huge risk here is the anesthethia,” said Ron Magill, communications director at the MetroZoo. “This is an animal that, because of her advanced age -- when you keep in mind that gorillas live to be usually around 50, actually a little less -- 42 is an extremely advanced age for this animal.”
The surgery has only been done a handful of times on apes.
It was not immediately known if the procedure was successful in restoring Josephine’s sight.
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