First Brain Surgery Performed on Bear

An Asiatic black bear at a Laos sanctuary is cured of hydrocephalus

Champa, an Asiatic black bear, recovering from brain surgery. She is the first bear to undergo such an operation.

In the mountains of northern Laos, a three-year-old Asiatic black bear has become a medical pioneer: the world's first bear to undergo brain surgery.

The bear, named Champa, has lived most of her life at a sanctuary run by Free the Bears, an Australian nonprofit group. About 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the city of Luang Prabang, the sanctuary protects bears that Lao officials have rescued from wildlife traffickers. The Asiatic black bear, or moon bear, whose bile is considered a valuable ingredient in traditional Chinese and Korean medicine, is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Rescued as a cub, Champa stood out from the start: She had a protruding forehead and had trouble socializing with the other bears at the sanctuary. Over time, her growth slowed, her behavior became more erratic, and her vision faded.
Sanctuary staff and veterinarians suspected hydrocephalus, or "water on the brain," a disease that strikes humans as well as animals. It's most commonly caused by the blockage or overproduction of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain's cavities.

So Free the Bears called on Pizzi, a South African veterinary surgeon who works in Scotland at the Edinburgh Zoo and also at a national wildlife rescue center. Pizzi uses a technique called "keyhole," or laparoscopic surgery, in which surgery is performed through a small incision and with the help of a camera.

Her Headaches Are Gone
Six weeks after the operation, Champa is markedly more active and more social with other bears, and she is gaining weight. She will always have some brain damage, since the accumulated fluid does cause permanent harm. And she will remain in captivity. But her relief is obvious.
"Operating on one bear won't save bears from extinction, and making life better for one bear won't change the world," said Pizzi. "But the world of that one bear is changed forever."

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