UP vets perform extractive tusk surgery on elephant in Poland

Abstract

Two University of Pretoria (UP) veterinarians saved the life of a 5.5-ton elephant at Poznan Zoo in Poland, by performing a surgical extraction of his damaged tusk. Ninio, an African elephant, suffered a severe infection in July after a crack appeared at the bottom of his right tusk. Professor Gerhard Steenkamp, who teaches courses in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery of animals at UP’s Faculty of Veterinary Science and Professor Adrian Tordiffe – a veterinary wildlife specialist – performed the five-hour surgery on Ninio. Having vast experience in elephant anesthesia and dentistry, Profs Tordiffe and Steenkamp first treated Ninio at Poznan Zoo in 2012 and 2013 when they extracted his left tusk.