Rescued from Ukraine Lioness Receives Critical Surgery

Lira the lioness undergoing dental surgery — Lira the lioness from The Big Cat Sanctuary undergoing critical dental surgery to remove a severely infected lower right canine tooth

An adolescent female lion saved from conflict-ridden the war zone has undergone critical dental surgery to extract a badly decayed canine tooth caused by an infection.

Lira was brought to The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent, England on March 14 after a campaign by managing director the sanctuary's leader, who collected £500,000 to support her and several other lions from Ukraine.

Amani and Lira at the sanctuary — Amani and Lira are two of the big cats from Ukraine that arrived in March

The surgery was performed on Friday by veterinary dentist an experienced animal dentist, who has treated about 450 big cats.

"Upon inspecting Lira's jaw and mouth, I could see right away the broken tooth was highly inflamed," stated Mr Kertesz.

He believed the dental issue was due to a trauma sustained more than a year ago, leading to germs producing harmful substances inside the tooth.

"My philosophy is non-human oral health issues should be addressed in the safest, the least invasive and safest way," he said.

Mr Kertesz clarified that as Lira no longer required to catch prey, removal was the most "logical and humane option."

Lira's extracted tooth — Lira's extracted lower right canine tooth was 8cm (3.14 inches) long

The sanctuary reported the extracted tooth was 8cm (3.14 inches) long, with the dentist having to remove a pocket of pus from under the fang and seal the large wound with multiple absorbable stitches.

He also performed a dental procedure on the corresponding top fang, which was also found to be infected.

The curator, curator at The Big Cat Sanctuary, said the operation was a "complete success."

She said the team had spotted "a minor swelling on Lira's jawline" but it had been impossible to assess "how serious the condition was."

"Lira will be somewhat sore to begin with, but now that the infectious materials are removed from her system, she will begin improving over the coming days," added the curator.

The successful surgery marks a significant step in Lira's recovery after her rescue from Ukraine.