The world s oldest alligator held in captivity is recovering at his home in Belgrade Zoo in Serbia after undergoing surgery on Sunday (February 19). Muja, whose exact age is unknown but is thought to be over 75 years old, was diagnosed with gangrene in his foot which had to be amputated.Once X-ray images had confirmed that Muja was suffering from a life-threatening condition, a team of experts including veterinarians and orthopaedic surgeons were called in to perform surgery on the 200 kilogram animal.The operation had to be done using local anaesthesia, which meant that Muja had to be tied down to the operating table during the three-hour procedure.
"The surgery was performed here, in the enclosure he lives in during the winter. We placed him on the (operating) table and immobilized him. It was done using local anaesthesia, as we couldn t risk sedating him by using total anaesthesia because of his old age. There was a possibility that he might not wake up from total anaesthesia," zookeeper Aleksandar Rakocevic said.Muja is still regularly given antibiotics but experts say his life is no longer threatened. On Monday the alligator started eating for the first time after the surgery, which was seen as an indication of his recovery. He eats once a week and his meal normally consists of 5-6 kg of meat.
"The very next day after the surgery he started eating. He ate his usual type of food, which is meat. Every time he eats it is a sign of his recovery," zookeeper Aleksandar Rakocevic added.Muja was brought to Belgrade Zoo in 1937 from Germany as a fully grown male and is one of the few animals who survived heavy bombings of Belgrade in World War II when the zoo compound was almost completely destroyed.He has been living alone at the zoo since the 1960s, when a female alligator he shared his enclosure with died.
Comments
Post a Comment