🔗 Share this article

The Big Cat Sanctuary

An adolescent lioness rescued from conflict-ridden Ukraine has received vital dental surgery to extract a badly decayed fang resulting from an infection.

Lira arrived at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent, England on 14 March following a campaign by director Cam Whitnall, who collected £500,000 to fund her and four other rescued lions.

The Rescue Center

The surgery was performed on last week by dentist Peter Kertesz, who has cared for hundreds of large felines.

"When I examined Lira's jaw and mouth, I could see immediately the damaged fang was highly inflamed," stated Mr Kertesz.

He believed the dental issue was due to a injury experienced more than a year ago, leading to bacteria creating toxins inside the tooth.

"The approach I follow is non-human oral health issues need to be treated in the safest, the most conservative and safest way," he explained.

Mr Kertesz explained that as Lira did not need to hunt for food, removal was the most "sensible and ethical solution."

The Animal Rescue Facility

The rescue center reported the extracted tooth was 3.14 inches in length, with the dentist having to extract a pocket of pus from under the fang and close the significant opening with multiple absorbable stitches.

He additionally conducted a dental procedure on the corresponding top fang, which was discovered to have a similar issue.

Briony Smith, curator at The Big Cat Sanctuary, declared the operation was a "total triumph."

She said the staff had spotted "a minor swelling on the lioness's face" but it had been difficult to assess "how serious the condition was."

"The lioness will be a little uncomfortable to begin with, but now that the toxins are removed from her system, she will begin improving over the coming days," added the curator.

The successful surgery marks a major milestone in the lioness's healing process after her arrival from the conflict area.