Cincinnati Zoo’s Gladys the gorilla gets world’s first 3D-printed titanium cast

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Gladys at the Cincinnati Zoo received the world’s first 3D-printed titanium cast for her broken arm, the zoo announced Tuesday.

Veterinarians and gorilla keepers equipped 11-year-old Gladys with the temporary cast on April 19 following her surgery, according to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

The zoo says the 3D-printed titanium cast is more likely to “stand up to gorilla power.”

“One benefit of 3D printing is fast turnaround times,” said Shannon Morman, advanced lead engineer at GE Additive, who was on-site to help with any necessary adjustments. “Following a call on Friday afternoon, our team met up over the weekend to create initial design ideas. The following Monday we scanned the original cast to create a 3D model and were ready to start printing the same day. The titanium cast took around 65 hours to print, and we were able to deliver it to the zoo team in under a week.”

She will wear the cast for about four weeks and will remain behind the scenes while she heals.

Gladys’ broken arm happened during a scuffle with the younger two females in her troop, the zoo previously explained.

She will be in proximity to her troop mates, but the zoo said will not share space with them until the cast comes off.

Gladys, a western lowland gorilla, was born Jan. 29, 2013, at a zoo in Brownsville, Texas. Cincinnati zookeepers stepped in because her mother was unable to care for her. She went into captivity where keepers lived with her around the clock to teach her how to act and think like a gorilla.

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