Heart disease is the leading cause of death for gorillas in captivity. The ultimate goal of this project is to reduce mortality and improve the health and welfare of these endangered primates.

We’ve identified blood tests for biomarkers that are good indicators of cardiac disease in humans. We need to determine if these tests will work for gorilla blood samples. If valid, these simple, inexpensive tests will be invaluable to zoos looking to monitor the health status of their gorillas.