Bannerghatta veterinarians perform rare diaphragmatic hernia surgery on leopard

BENGALURU: Veterinarians at the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) have achieved a unique feat, said to be the only second time in Asia, by performing a complex surgery on a three-legged leopard.

The leopard was suffering from diaphragmatic hernia, a birth defect in which there is an abnormal opening in the diaphragm. This made it difficult for the leopard to breathe or move around. The big cat would also vomit whatever it ate.

Diaphragmatic hernia is a rare defect and the leopard had lost much weight, weighing only 13 kg. After the veterinarians informed their higher-ups, they were tasked with performing the rare and complex surgery in last March. The surgery was conducted by a team of doctors including Dr Kiran Kumar, Dr Anand And Manjunath.

After the surgery, the leopard was carefully tended to for six months and is now much healthier, weighing 40 kg. It had been rescued when it was just three weeks old from a farm in Mysuru. During the rescue, it had lost a leg and is now 10 months old.