The Greek Community’s honorary treasurer and Epworth Hospital’s orthopaedic surgeon, Associate Professor Marinis Pirpiris, volunteered his time at the Royal Melbourne Zoo earlier this week, swapping humans for orangutans.
Thirty-six-year-old Suma, also known as Kianni, is the zoo’s oldest resident orangutan, and after showing signs of arthritis has been taking medication since 2013.
Dr Pirpiris joined senior veterinarian Dr Helen McCracken in taking x-rays of areas where arthritis was present, including the hips and ankles.
The doctors manipulated Suma’s joints, performing a procedure to assist in relieving her from chronic arthritic pain.
Feeling privileged to have the chance to work on the ape, he went on to tell the Herald Sun: “It is quite a special moment when we try to apply our own skill set on primates. We are trying to help … (but) they can’t quite comprehend what is going on.”