52 Morbidity and mortality
hands were used to steady himself between each successive foot movement. There appeared to be
no outward signs of injury on the left foot, and the cause of the injury was unknown. He remained
in the lower part of the tree for the entire feeding bout, and then made a day nest in the same tree
fork until climbing down (again requiring the use of the left hand to position the left foot) at 12.08,
and moving out of view on the ground.
On 24/10/97 TK was again seen feeding on the leaves of Broussonetia, this time on
the ground. There was still no voluntary movement of the left foot, and in addition the foot
was held off the ground whenever possible. It was possible that he was unable to climb to feed
arboreally.
By 10/11/97 TK was still limping, but facultative as opposed to obligatory use of the left hand
in assisting movement of the left foot was observed. He was seen feeding on the flowers of
Broussonetia, located in both the middle and lower sections of the tree.
By 5/12/97 TK was capable of complete voluntary movement of the left foot and was not seen
to use his left hand to aid locomotion, but he still had a detectable limp. By 21/1/98 his limp had
gone and he was moving with apparent ease.- A wound to Zefa (ZF), a young adult male (Events Book entry by Katie Fawcett,
observations by her and Geresomu Muhumuza):
On 23/4/98 at 08.31 it was observed that ZF had what appeared to be a puncture wound on his outer
left calf. When we arrived Kwera (KW, adult female) was grooming ZF and ZF was grooming and
licking his wound. At 08.40 Zefa left to the north, 08.44 KW followed.- A wound to Vernon (VN), an adult male (Events Book entry by Katie Fawcett,
observations by her, Geresomu Muhumuza, Emma Stokes, Kakura James, Paula
Pebsworth and Karamaji Joseph):
6/6/98 at 08.20 an apparently superficial wound was observed on the lower left leg of Vernon as he
was climbing into a Cynometratree. The wound was estimated to be approximately 5 in.2 in.
on the outside of the lower leg just above the ankle. The hair and skin appeared to have been
scraped off giving the appearance of a graze. The wound seemed to be causing some discomfort as
he did not appear to place his whole body weight on the left foot while climbing. Later at 10.15 the
same morning he was again observed, this time limping badly while walking on the ground, how-
ever he was keeping up with the rest of the group.
9/6/98 VN was observed feeding in a Broussonetiatree, his wound was still visible but he did
not seem to be in any discomfort.
8/7/98 VN was observed walking on the ground limping badly. The surface wound appeared
deeper and now ‘raw’. There were no signs of scab formation. There was yellow colouration in the
centre parts of the wound, the rest of the wound being red. This indicates the possibility of infec-
tion. It was expected by all observers that by now the wound should have healed.
20/10/98 VN’s wound still not healed. No longer yellow but still red and raw. No weight put on
left foot when walking.This wound subsequently healed up fully and without visible trace.