A wild lion in Gujarat undergoes cataract surgery

Junagadh: A 5-year old male lion Lion in Gir, suffering from bilateral cataract, has fully recovered and regained 100 % vision in both eyes after a surgery at Sakkarbaug zoo.

The forest staff spotted a lion in Jamwala range of Gir unable to see. He was captured and brought to the rescue center around Diwali. A team of veterinary doctors including Junagadh based eye surgeon Dr Sanjeev Javia was sent to the centre to examine the lion. They submitted a report mentioning that the lion had opacification in both eyes (bilateral cataract). The lion was taken to Sakkarbaug zoo for a surgery.

The treatment of cataract involves surgically removing the lense and replacing it with an artificial one. Though there was no reference to the size of lense, informed forest officials. However, they removed eyeballs of a dead lion during his post mortem to find out the lens size. They then sent it to a lab in Madurai which specialises in ophthalmic consumables. The zoo has a phacoemulsification machine which uses ultrasonic sound to break the cortex and nucleus of the lense into small fragments which are vacuumed away through a small tube, informed forest officials. Dr Javia led the team of veterinary doctors in performing the operation.