A young bear, that became the first to have life-saving brain surgery, has now nearly fully recovered.
Boki underwent a five-hour operation performed by world-leading veterinary surgeon, Romain Pizzi.
It was the last hope for the cub who had been suffering from debilitating seizures.
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Following a diagnosis of hydrocephalus – or fluid on the brain – keepers and veterinary experts feared he would not survive the winter without the operation after his medication stopped having the desired impact.
But after six weeks of recovery and rehabilitation, the team at Wildwood Trust, near Canterbury, in Kent, says Boki is almost back to his normal self.
And he has even put weight on thanks to honey-covered treats, as reported by What’s The Jam.
Boki is now 20kg heavier than he was six weeks ago, putting him at around 140kg.
He has been enjoying a lot of enrichment – such as toys he’s been gifted, ice lollies made with hidden nuts and berries and cardboard boxes covered with honey, which has been keeping his mind active and distracting him from scratching his surgical wounds.
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Mark Habben, Director of Zoo Operations at Wildwood Trust, said: “Six weeks seems like such a short time when you think of how far Boki has come since the day of his surgery.
“For the team who have shown such unrivalled dedication, caring for him day and night, it’s probably felt a lot longer than 42 days.
“Timescales aside we’re in awe of the progress he’s made and remain incredibly grateful to Romain and everyone who has helped us get Boki back to the charismatic, care-free bear we first met nearly two years ago – albeit a slightly heavier version.”
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Romain, who waived his fee to perform the surgery for the Kent conservation charity, fitted a stent between Boki’s brain and abdomen to help him pass the excess fluid.
He said being part of Boki’s journey has been an incredibly rewarding experience.
He said: “It is so wonderful to see that just over a month after surgery Boki is doing so well.
“Not only did he rapidly recover after the operation, climbing and playing only a few days later but so far it appears to have been successful in improving his condition as we wean him off his medications.
“It is lovely to see after everyone’s hard work, efforts and donations have got us this far.”
Boki was diagnosed with hydrocephalus following an MRI – provided by Fitzpatrick Referrals, home of Professor Noel Fitzpatrick – in July.
After it became apparent that his medication was no longer giving the relief to his seizures that it once had, the team had to make an urgent decision to go ahead with the operation.
Wildwood’s vet, Elliott Simpson-Brown, from IZVG, has been overseeing Boki’s medical care since he first arrived at Wildwood.
He said: “Ever since Boki’s initial concerning signs of headaches and trembling were noticed and first investigated some seven months ago, he has been on medication to keep the swelling within the brain and build-up of fluid on the brain under control.
“Prior to surgery if we reduced the medication, the symptoms would recur.
“Since surgery, we have been carefully tapering the medication down and it has been very encouraging to see that for the first time in that seven months, Boki is now at the point that we can cautiously trial completely weaning him off the medication, relying solely on the surgical intervention doing what it needs to do.
“We are all incredibly excited to be at this stage of recovery.”
The team had noticed that Boki had started to slow down and was showing signs of going into torpor (semi-hibernation) for the very first time.
Jon Forde, Head of Bears at Wildwood, said: “Little more than six weeks ago, one of our biggest concerns was that Boki would go into torpor and not survive the winter.
“It was one of the main reasons that the surgery was so vital – we would not have been able to give him the medication or care he needed once he had gone into semi-hibernation.
“Now we’re welcoming this positive step.
“It’s been an absolute privilege to oversee his recovery since his surgery and to watch him gain weight and prepare for this next phase – it is all very natural bear behaviour.”
