🔗 Share this article

A Wildlife Rescue Center

An adolescent lioness rescued from war-torn the war zone has received vital dental surgery to extract a severely infected fang resulting from an abscess.

The lioness arrived at a wildlife sanctuary in Smarden, Kent on March 14 following a campaign by managing director Cam Whitnall, who collected half a million pounds to fund her and four other rescued lions.

The Rescue Center

The procedure was performed on last week by dentist Peter Kertesz, who has treated about 450 big cats.

"When I examined the lioness's oral cavity, I could see immediately the broken tooth was highly inflamed," stated the dentist.

He believed the dental issue was due to a trauma experienced over twelve months back, causing bacteria creating harmful substances inside the tooth.

"The approach I follow is animal dental problems need to be treated in the safest, the least invasive and safest way," he explained.

The expert explained that as Lira did not need to hunt for food, extraction was the most "sensible and ethical solution."

The Big Cat Sanctuary

The sanctuary reported the extracted tooth was 3.14 inches in length, with the dentist having to extract a accumulated infection from beneath the tooth and close the large wound with multiple absorbable stitches.

He additionally conducted a dental procedure on the opposing upper canine tooth, which was discovered to have a similar issue.

Briony Smith, curator at The Big Cat Sanctuary, said the operation was a "complete success."

She noted the staff had spotted "a small lump on Lira's jawline" but it had been difficult to determine "how serious the condition was."

"Lira will be a little uncomfortable to initially, but now that the toxins are removed from her system, she will start to feel much better over the next few days," commented Ms Smith.

The successful surgery represents a major milestone in Lira's recovery after her rescue from Ukraine.