🔗 Share this article

A Wildlife Rescue Center

A three-year-old lioness rescued from war-torn the war zone has received vital oral operation to extract a badly decayed canine tooth resulting from an abscess.

Lira was brought to The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent, England on 14 March after a fundraising effort by managing director the sanctuary's leader, who collected half a million pounds to fund her and four other rescued lions.

The Big Cat Sanctuary

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

"When I examined the lioness's oral cavity, I could see immediately the damaged fang was highly inflamed," said Mr Kertesz.

He believed the infection was caused by a injury sustained over twelve months back, causing germs producing harmful substances within the fang.

"The approach I follow is non-human oral health issues should be addressed in the safest, the least invasive and safest way," he explained.

The expert explained that as the lioness did not need to catch prey, extraction was the most "logical and humane option."

The Big Cat Sanctuary

The rescue center said the extracted tooth was 8cm (3.14 inches) long, with the dentist having to extract a accumulated infection from under the fang and seal the large wound with multiple absorbable stitches.

He also performed a dental procedure on the corresponding top fang, 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 team had observed "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 infectious materials are removed from her system, she will start to feel much better over the coming days," added Ms Smith.

This vital operation marks a significant step in the lioness's healing process after her rescue from Ukraine.