Andrew Oberle, the 26-year-old St. Louisan and University of Texas at San Antonio graduate student who made national news after being attacked by chimpanzees at a South African reserve in June, is now awake and talking, his uncle, Doc Coogan, said Thursday in a statement.
Oberle is currently at Saint Louis University Hospital, where he's been for a week since being treated in Johannesburg. He was placed in a medically-induced coma after the attack and has since undergone multiple surgeries. Oberle is expected to receive reconstructive facial surgery and intensive therapy at the hospital while under the care of Dr. Bruce Kraemer, chief of plastic surgery, hospital spokeswoman Laura Keller said in an interview earlier this month with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Oberle was leading a tour at the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden when reports say he left the group and crossed one of the two fences between him and the animals. When he reached the second fence, two chimpanzees reached underneath and pulled him by his feet into their enclosure. He was attacked and dragged half a mile before he was rescued.
Saint Louis University Hospital was reached but does not have permission to release any information on Oberle's condition.
