UT San Antonio grad student, Andrew Oberle undergoes surgery after champanzee attack in S. Africa

An American graduate student is improving according to doctors after undergoing 6 hours of surgery Sunday after getting mauled by two chimpanzees at an animal sanctuary in South Africa.

Photo/Caelio via Wikimedia Commons

26-year-old Andrew Oberle, a University of Texas at San Antonio graduate student, was attacked by two chimpanzees while leading a tour at a  the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden near Nelspruit.

Last Thursday, two large male chimpanzees pulled Oberle under a fence at the animal sanctuary for abused animals and preceded to bite and otherwise maul the young man.

Oberle’s sister, Elizabeth Sosa, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Oberle, who grew up in St. Louis, lost his ears, his left arm and all his toes in the attack.

According to an MSNBC report, sanctuary director David Oosthuizen said Oberle was working on a master’s degree in anthropology and primatology and was inspired by Goodall to study chimps. He was working as a guide and was with a group of tourists at an enclosure holding adult male chimpanzees when he was attacked by two of the larger males, named Nikki and Amadeus.

According to physicians at the Mediclinic Nelspruit, Oberle remains in intensive care, but is no longer in critical condition.