A Chicago Zoological Society veterinary team worked with two general surgeons from Amita Health to perform an emergency appendectomy a 40-year-old orangutan at the Chicago-area Brookfield Zoo last month after an ultrasound and CT scan revealed inflammation around the appendix, which they later found had ruptured. Orangutans have thick skin and a large bowel, which complicated the surgery, but the patient has recovered well, said veterinarian Michael Adkesson, vice president of clinical medicine for Chicago Zoological Society.

Victoria, a polar bear at the Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland, gave birth to at least one cub -- the first born in the UK in 25 years -- according to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. "While we are absolutely thrilled, we are not celebrating prematurely as polar bear cubs have a high mortality rate in the first weeks of life due to their undeveloped immune system and the mother's exaggerated need for privacy, with any disturbance risking the cub being killed or abandoned," said zookeeper Una Richardson.

Bubba, a 20-something Java macaque at the Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo in Mississippi, died after hernia repair surgery. According to the zoo, Bubba's surgery was performed successfully, but he suffered complications while recovering and died.

The Houston Zoo's cheetah brothers Kito and Kiburi ran free inside the Houston Sports Park on Wednesday to help draw attention to the plight of cheetahs, a species with an estimated 10,000 remaining wild members. Kiburi was clocked running 42 miles per hour, slower than the 70 mph the animals can reach in the wild, said the zoo's carnivore supervisor Sarah Riger.

Ultrasound photos show a normally developing fetus inside Tonga, an African elephant at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna who was inseminated with frozen sperm from a wild African bull elephant. Frozen sperm has been used successfully in other mammals, but it has proved trickier with elephants, and this case is believed to be the first success story.