5 years ago

World’s First Surgery of Its Kind Saves Tiger’s Eye

A veterinarian performed surgery that healed an ulcerated cornea on a tiger’s eye. This was the world’s first instance of this surgery, Good News Network reported.

Sumatran tiger Ratna, 17, at Shepreth Wildlife Park has made a full recovery and now has her eyesight back. Ratna had a cataract removed in 2017 but developed another problem in her eye that required surgery.

Surgeon Dr. David Williams, from the Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital, told the BBC that Ratna was fully healed two months after the surgery.

“It’s like we might do with any domestic cat – but with a lot more anesthetic,” Dr. Williams said of the 30-minute operation on the 149-pound tiger, “But I don’t think anyone’s ever done this before in this species.”

The park’s director, Rebecca Willers told the BBC, “Her co-ordination seems much better now, and the best thing is the operation has eradicated the need for Ratna to have her eyedrops – and she was never that keen on those.”

Ratna and her daughter moved to the wildlife park in 2019 to live out their later years. Dr. Williams said it appears Ratna’s eyesight has returned and is not in pain any longer. She is “absolutely fine – you’d never know anything had been wrong.”

Big cats are known to do exceptionally poorly in captivity. Cubs used for photo ops are often taken from their mothers at an early age and suffer psychologically as a result. Responsible facilities that house these animals must provide extensive enrichment, species-appropriate habitat, acreage of roaming space, and most importantly, high-security containment to protect both animal and human lives. The general public simply cannot provide this level of care in a household, which is why big cat “pet” stories nearly always end in disaster.