UP vet science alumni reunite in US to perform tusk extraction on six-ton elephant

Abstract

Three University of Pretoria (UP) veterinary science alumni recently reunited in the US to relieve a hefty African elephant of “toothache” by combining their skills in animal care to extract one of its tusks. Faculty of Veterinary Science alumnus Dr Mark Penning, who is based at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, reached out to fellow UP alumni Professors Gerhard Steenkamp and Adrian Tordiffe of UP’s Onderstepoort campus to assist with the physically demanding, specialised procedure that needed to be performed on Bulwagi, a resident of Birmingham Zoo in Alabama.