ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

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Tiger to be fitted with prosthetic paw in world first operation

A tiger maimed by a poacher's trap is to be given a prosthetic paw, in a world first operation aided by a UK surgeon.
Prof Peter Giannoudis from University of Leeds earlier this week helped Indian experts carry out a preliminary operation on the seven-year-old big cat. The tiger called Sahebrao will be fitted with a artificial paw in around four weeks, in the first operation of its kind.

Sahebrao was rescued from a poacher’s trap in Gondmohadi village in Chandrapur district in 2012. His wound later developed gangrene, and a part of his injured front left leg had to be amputated. Since then, he has been living in captivity at the Wildlife Rescue Centre in Nagpur’s Gorewada Zoo.
Prof Giannoudis, an expert in fractures and bone regeneration, told the Telegraph he was advising the team and intended to be at the final operation, but said he would not comment until it was complete.
The tiger was adopted by Sushrut Babhulkar, a Nagpur-based orthopaedic surgeon, in 2016, who has since then been investigating the possibility of an artificial limb. He contacted experts abroad and teamed up with the University of Leeds.
“Now we will be able to fix the prosthetic limb within 3-4 weeks… the limb will be manufactured in Nagpur. We have taken all the necessary measurements,” he told The Indian Express, a Delhi-based daily newspaper.
“I wish to see him walk normally, like a human being getting a prosthetic leg, for the rest of his life,” he said.
Tiger numbers in India are rebounding after years of decline, the Indian government said earlier this year, rising 30 per cent since 2014. Traps still pose a threat however and many of those caught face a slow, painful death from infection.
Research based on camera traps spread across the country estimated tiger numbers had risen to just under 3,000, the government said. Other experts said last month that the rise was exaggerated because the trap photos had been misinterpreted.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/10/tiger-fitted-prosthetic-leg-world-first-operation/amp/ Reply