Wesley Healthcare staff volunteers to help injured Sedgwick County Zoo chimpanzee

Medical staff at Wesley Healthcare had a memorable patient and operation: undertaking a toe amputation and reconstructive foot surgery on a 2-year-old Sedgwick County Zoo chimpanzee.

The surgical team donated their time and performed Alizeti’s procedure at the zoo’s animal hospital.

“Thanks to the skill and collaboration of our team and zoo experts, she is expected to heal well and retain full use of her foot,” the healthcare system said Friday on social media.

She is expected to spend the next six to eight weeks “behind the scenes” with her foster mother, Bea, while she heals, the zoo said.

The zoo said Alizeti was injured by Moshi, the group’s alpha male, after she wouldn’t move into the shared space with the rest of the group. In addition to the damage to her foot, she also had two teeth knocked out. A veterinary dentist examined her mouth while she was sedated and found no catastrophic root damage. Her adult teeth are expected to grow in like normal.

“In chimpanzee society, togetherness is not just social – it’s a matter of safety. When a member of the troop is separated, the alpha male cannot adequately protect everyone,” the zoo said Friday. “This behavior, while difficult for us to witness, is a normal part of chimpanzee social dynamics. An alpha male’s primary role is to keep the troop safe, and at times that requires him to be firm – even heavy-handed.”

Moshi and Alizeti have been in a shared space with other chimps since June 2025 without any previous concerns, the zoo said. The zoo said “there are cases of certain chimps not being suited well for one another, but it’s much too soon to know if that is the case here.”

Alizeti’s reluctance to come out and join the troop, just before the altercation, may have been from her unique personality and another part is “likely because of her unique experience as a human-assisted and fostered chimp,” the zoo said.

“Bea does an amazing job of providing Alizeti with the maternal care she requires, however because that relationship is a bit different from a traditional mother and offspring, she attempted to intervene, but was ineffective,” the zoo said. “Bea is very close socially to Moshi, and we suspect her relationship and respect for the alpha may have influenced her response.”

Medical personnel from Advanced Orthopaedic Associates, Thrive Reconstructive Surgery and Wesley Medical Center who worked on Alizeti include doctors Chad Corrigan, Zach Hanson and Matthew Louis; CRNP Abby Mercado; RN Emily McKenna; and April Gulley from the Sedgwick County Zoo medical team. Dr. Doug Winter, with Midwest Animal Dental & Oral Surgery Services, performed the dental work.