Karen (orangutan)

Wild Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered. In the 1970s, UC San Diego Health (UCSD) pathologist Kurt Benirschke, persuaded zoo trustees to establish a research department, at the zoo's Center for the Reproduction of Endangered Species, which he subsequently led, providing the collaboration between the University and the zoo. Orangutan and human hearts have much similarity, and open heart surgery had become routine in human babies. ==Early life and family==

Karen, also known as "Kare-Bear", was born at the San Diego Zoo on 11 June 1992 to nine-year-old mother Karta and father Otis. Karen was found to have a heart murmur at a health check-up at the age of two, after it was noted that she was not growing at the appropriate speed. Tests then confirmed a penny-size hole in the heart. At the time, Karen weighed and her condition was considered fatal without surgical correction. ==Heart surgery==

A surgical team led by cardiothoracic surgeon Stuart W. Jamieson from UCSD repaired the defect by opening Karen's chest and heart and stitching the hole to close it. Despite some structural variation between Karen's chest wall and that of a human, once inside the chest cavity, the surgeons felt familiar with the heart surgery. The whole procedure required the co-operation of a number of surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists, medical technicians, veterinarians and animal keepers and lasted seven hours. Jamieson reported that "If Karen were human, I'd tell her parents that everything went fine, and her prognosis is excellent". Following the operation, Karen required carefully co-ordinated care, which involved more than 100 volunteers. Although she suffered a lung complication, it was managed successfully ==Life after surgery==

Karen subsequently became a favorite with zoo visitors. and is said to have a signature move, where she rolls rather than walks. A book about Karen was published in 2018, titled Karen’s Heart: The True Story of a Brave Baby Orangutan. ==COVID-19 vaccination==

Karen was one of the first non-humans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. ==See also==