Boki the brown bear set for brain surgery this week

EnvironmentPets
8 Oct 2024 • 12:13 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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A brown bear is set for brain surgery this week in the first operation of its kind in the UK.

Boki, a brown bear at the Wildwood Trust, near Canterbury, Kent, will be operated on later this week after an MRI scan revealed he has hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid in the brain.

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Boki, who is two-years-old, has been suffering from seizures and related health issues.

This will be the first time such an operation has been performed in the UK.

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Romain Pizzi, the first surgeon to perform a similar operation on a black bear in Asia, has agreed to operate on Boki.

A Facebook post from Wildwood Kent earlier in October said “without this surgery (Boki) would not survive the winter”.

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It added that the surgery and immediate aftercare for Boki would cost £20,000 and that it was “incredibly thankful” Mr Pizzi had “volunteered his time and team” to the case.

To find out more visit: wildwoodtrust.org/brown-bear-rescue.