A female zebra at the Dehiwala Zoo is to undergo surgery for an obstruction in its digestive tract, after medical treatment failed to improve its condition, the Daily Mirror reported.
The animal — one of two female zebras at the zoo — has been showing signs of illness since 29 September. Tests and scans identified a blockage in its digestive tract, and the zoo’s own veterinary team began treating it.
A specialist was brought in from Peradeniya
When the zebra’s condition did not return to normal, zoo authorities turned on 8 October to Dr. Dhammika Perera, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Peradeniya, who specialises in equine species.
After further examinations, the veterinary team recommended on the specialist’s advice that the obstruction be removed surgically, having concluded it could not be cleared by medication alone.
The operation was scheduled for the evening of 9 October, with the specialist and the zoo’s own veterinary officers taking part.
The Department of National Zoological Gardens said it was taking the steps needed to provide appropriate medical care and improve the animal’s condition on specialist advice, and that further updates on the zebra’s health would be issued as necessary.
Context
Gastrointestinal obstruction is a serious condition in equine animals, which cannot vomit and so cannot clear a blockage without intervention. Surgery on a large hoofed animal carries additional risk from general anaesthesia and from the difficulty of managing recovery.
The zoo has handled specialist operations before. In September it reported that a first-of-its-kind procedure had removed a cancerous growth from Botham, Sri Lanka’s only sea lion, sparing an animal that would ordinarily have been euthanised. It also lost an elderly giraffe in August after some 30 years in its care, and in October named its Nile hippo calf “Momo” following a children’s competition.
Not reported
The filing was published on Saturday morning, after the hour set for the operation, but does not report whether the surgery went ahead or what its outcome was. No update from the Department had been issued at the time of writing.
It does not give the zebra’s age or name, say what caused the obstruction or where in the digestive tract it sits, or describe the animal’s current condition beyond the fact that treatment had not worked. It does not say whether the second female zebra is affected or has been separated, and names no official of the Department as a source for the statement.
No other verified newsroom has filed on the zebra’s illness. This desk searched Hiru News, NewsFirst, Ada Derana, the Island, Daily News and Colombo Gazette and found no corresponding report; the account rests on the Daily Mirror alone.
Sources: Daily Mirror.
