A younger bear born to oldsters rescued from a Spanish circus will right now endure pioneering mind surgical procedure.
Boki, a two-year-old European brown bear, has been struggling seizures and imaginative and prescient issues for the final 5 months.
MRI scans present he has hydrocephalus, a construct up of fluid inside his cranium that’s placing stress on his mind.
It is a situation that additionally happens in people, affecting one in each 500 births. Different circumstances may be triggered by sickness or harm later in life.
However it’s believed to be uncommon in animals.
Specialist vets working with the Wildwood Belief, close to Canterbury, the place Boki lives, will insert a tube in his mind to empty the fluid and relieve the stress.
“It impedes his life,” he mentioned.
“We want him to be able to climb up trees and jump in ponds without suffering negatively from that.”
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The vet concerned has solely carried out the process as soon as earlier than. Pic: PA
The three-hour operation will probably be carried out by Romain Pizzi, an Edinburgh-based specialist with a status for taking over circumstances that different vets will not contact.
He’ll make a small gap in Boki’s cranium and run a tube from inside his mind, then beneath his pores and skin right down to his bladder, the place it can drain the surplus fluid.
The vet has carried out the process simply as soon as earlier than, on an Asiatic black bear in Laos. The surgical procedure was successful, giving the Wildwood Belief confidence it is the fitting choice for Boki.
Mr Habben mentioned Boki can also be in good bodily situation and quickly placing on weight.
“If we did not think this would have a happy ending, we would not put him or ourselves through the physical and emotional stress of conducting something like this,” he mentioned.
“We are very optimistic about it.”
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The situation is never seen in animals. Pic: PA
Boki was born at Port Lympne wildlife park in Kent, the place his dad and mom had been introduced after being rescued. However he was aggressively rejected by his household and was moved to the Wildwood Belief.
The choice to go forward with surgical procedure was given additional urgency by Boki’s imminent torpor, a winter dormancy much like hibernation.
“Doing it now is the right thing to do because it’s much easier to monitor him,” mentioned Mr Habben.
“If there is any medication or aftercare he needs, I don’t want him to be asleep for four months to administer that.
“As he recovers from surgical procedure we will probably be assessing him on a day-to-day foundation to see when he can resume regular lifetime of being a younger bear once more.”
