Vets sedate 17-stone tiger for delicate operation to remove ingrown toenail
Tschuna, a rare Amur tiger, spent Wednesday sleeping off the general anaesthetic after having a rogue claw clipped off.
The operation was carried out after staff at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, noticed 15-year-old Tschuna, who weighs around 110kg, was limping and sensitive on one paw.
Head of carnivores Bex Brown said: 'She's a great tiger, we're able to ask her to stand up and put her paws on the mesh so we could see she'd got this issue.'
The veterinary team injected Tschuna with a short-lasting general anaesthetic to ease the procedure.
The operation, which took less than 15 minutes, involved vets gently clipping off a claw on Tschuna's front left paw to stop the risk of infection and remove the discomfort.
'Tiger anaesthetics are particularly tricky, so it was a quick procedure to ensure everyone involved, including Tschuna, was safe,' said Dr Charlotte MacDonald, director of animals at the park.
'Tschuna came back round relatively quickly and should have a speedy recovery, though she probably has a bit of a headache from the anaesthetic.
'We're keeping her in the house at first to recover fully and then she'll hopefully be back to her playful self again very quickly.'
Ms Brown said: 'Any anaesthetic there would always be an element of nerves, it's something we always want to try and avoid, but trying to trim it would have caused her pain, she wouldn't have allowed us to do that. Leaving it would have been painful and uncomfortable for her.
'Also, because we don't sedate them often at all, it was a good opportunity to give her a full MOT while she was asleep.'
Tschuna arrived at the park in 2013 as part of an international breeding programme to help support the species, also known as Siberian tigers, which came close to extinction as numbers dwindled to around 30.
She gave birth to three cubs at the park in 2015 – one of them, Hector, has become a father at Cleveland Zoo in the US – and it is hoped she will partner with three-year-old male Altai, who arrived at the park earlier this year, to produce more cubs as part of the European Endangered Species Programme.
Ms Brown said Tschuna is 'a princess', adding: 'If we present her food she often puts the food on her other paw rather than off the ground.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Statesman
20 hours ago
- New Statesman
Letter of the week: The politics of poverty
Photo byI wholeheartedly support Gordon Brown's urgent call to action on child poverty in your recent special edition. The sad but undeniable truth is that child poverty is not just a statistic, but a defining fault line in British society today. It is the greatest driver of social division, a scar on our national conscience, and, if left unchecked, a threat to the future prospects of millions of children. As Brown rightly notes, this is not simply a moral emergency; it is an economic and educational crisis. We cannot talk about fixing Britain without talking about child poverty. Nor can we talk about restoring fairness or social mobility without tackling the structural barriers that trap children in disadvantage. Unless we address the deep-rooted educational inequalities that mirror and reinforce child poverty, from postcode lotteries in provision to the hollowing out of early years and special-needs support, we will fail to give every child a fair start. Millions believe that we are all better off when we care for the worst off. That compassion must now be matched by policy. Because child poverty is not inevitable. It is the result of political choices. And with the right choices, we can lift the next generation out of poverty and into promise. Mike Ion, Shrewsbury Food for thought One of my earliest memories is visiting the clinic with my mum to collect my orange juice and cod-liver oil, provided free by the government to keep me healthy. At my primary school there was free milk for everyone every day. This was about 1946, when the country was virtually bankrupt after fighting the war. Later, at secondary school we all had a midday meal of meat and two veg and pudding, again free. This was not just socialist ideology – nothing was withdrawn by Churchill or Macmillan. It was taken for granted by both parties that children must be properly nourished. Compared to those days the country is now enormously wealthy, but children go hungry. What has happened? John Lowell, Cheadle Hulme Brown's bairns I find it more than curious that in Gordon Brown's guest-edited child poverty issue there is no reflection on the fact that the one part of the UK where levels of child poverty are dropping is where he lives – in Scotland. Why has he not mentioned this? Child poverty in the UK has risen to 31 per cent while that in Scotland has dropped to 22 per cent. Surely there is a story worth looking at here. Ernie Watt, London Relative riches In 1950 my parents had to give up our modern house in Birmingham because they couldn't make ends meet, and we moved to an old terrace house with an outside toilet and no hot water. The present houses in Ladywood would have seemed lovely. We of course had no phone and no car, and our clothes were hand-me-downs (so was my bike) or were made by my mother. But we had a radio and a cat, I played cricket and football in the street, I could go to the park and to the library, a government scheme enabled us to build a bathroom, I had two parents who loved me and loved each other, and through Mr Tunnicliffe and Miss Swift at Rookery Road Junior School and through the eleven-plus, things changed for my sister and me. I guess we were poor, though we were typical of our street. After reading the New Statesman issue, I still don't have a very clear picture of what poverty means in 2025. I need stories, and also an impression of how typical they are. And maybe we need to set the problem and the desired actions about poverty alongside the questions Rowan Williams raised about how democracy recovers a grounding in solidarity. John Goldingay, Oxford Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Lineker's red card Although Gary Lineker is on the right side in the Gaza debate, it was only proper that he left the BBC for his mistake (Media Notebook, 23 May). Though I do feel he has become a victim of one of the pitfalls of social media. It's so easy to hit share within seconds of seeing content only to notice something sinister moments later when the damage has already been done. So what will happen to the social media outlet that allowed the post in the first place? I'm guessing nothing. Maybe this is another reason we still need the old media Alison Phillips talks about. Some research first, then the story. Rob Grew, Birmingham Trump's ties 'Superhuman narcissism' (Neil Kinnock, 23 May) is one but not the only explanation for Trump's behaviour. For example, his failure in months to bring the peace in Ukraine he boasted he'd achieve within hours can be explained, as FBI and congressional investigations have shown, by his loyalty to Vladimir Putin. Former allies of Russia's president have admitted to interfering in US elections. Trump may, therefore, owe a lot to Putin. Similarly his failure to safeguard the planet boils down to another favour returned. For this election campaign, while he didn't quite receive the $1bn in contributions he reportedly pushed for from oil executives, it was close. So again, he owes them. He's a narcissist, but he won't bite the hands that feed him. David Murray, Wallington Rivers of life Thank you for the interview with Robert Macfarlane (Encounter, 23 May). I hope there will be more articles about the environment in the front pages because, as with the water issue, the environment is political. Flood risks can be reduced at next to no cost by introducing beavers. Carbon can be sequestered without spending billions on carbon capture and storage simply by preserving peatland. You can't chop down old orchards and woodlands and expect the same ecological benefits from compensation planting elsewhere. Children in poverty can benefit from, among other things, access to nature. Here in Cambridge, there are children from poor households who have never seen the River Cam, even though they live just a mile away. Ecological literacy is important and as long as this Labour government bats away people who care about, well, bats and other wildlife, voters will desert them. Tim Tam, Cambridge Write to letters@ We reserve the right to edit letters [See also: Gary Lineker and the impartiality trap] Related
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
Scots schoolgirls are being told where to sit in class by controlling boyfriends influenced by Andrew Tate
It's claimed girls are now expected to perform acts that are shown on online pornography platforms CLASS CONCERN Scots schoolgirls are being told where to sit in class by controlling boyfriends influenced by Andrew Tate Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SCOTS schoolgirls are being told where to sit in class by controlling boyfriends influenced by Andrew Tate, charities say. Anne Robertson Brown, executive director of Women's Aid in Angus, claims abusive relationships are a "major issue" across the country. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Schoolgirls are being told where to sit in class by controlling boyfriends Credit: Getty Speaking at a conference organised by Beira's Place, Ms Brown said the role of social media and influencers "cannot be overestimated". She said her team had been called in to a primary school to talk to pupils because the young boys were telling girls to "get to the kitchen", "go make me food" and "make me a sandwich", The Times reports. Ms Brown also said Women's Aid had encountered situations where girls "had to check in with their boyfriend as they move around from class to class". They also had to send pictures to show they were "not sitting alongside someone they were not allowed to sit alongside". Ms Brown said girls are now expected to perform acts that are shown on online pornography platforms. She added: "We have seen a huge increase in the use of knives against the throat to make girls submit. "Using knives is almost the new foreplay or the new sex toy." A survey conducted by Angus Women's Aid involving 110 14-17 year olds found 10 per cent of boys admitted physically abusing their partner, 16 per cent said they would hack their social media accounts, and 6 per cent said they would pressurise a partner to send them images or videos. It comes after Scottish Labour's Katy Clark said should be done to teach Scots pupils about the dangers of influencers such as Andrew Tate. She said: "Extremist online misogyny is a growing issue in our schools with teachers having to deal with the impact of influencers who are hero-worshipped by some boys. Tates LAND in US & 'may meet Trump' as 'victims' fear they'll never face justice "We must face the reality of the impact it is having on all pupils and ensure teachers are properly equipped to tackle this." Andrew and brother Tristan were put behind bars in Romania late last year before being released under house arrest. The pair and two associates were held on suspicion of sex trafficking. Romanian authorities said that the pair subjected six alleged victims to "acts of physical violence and mental coercion" as well as 'sexual exploitation'.
Leader Live
a day ago
- Leader Live
Government would struggle to cope with severe animal disease outbreak
Animal diseases such as bird flu, bluetongue and African swine fever can pose serious threats to England's farming sector, food security, human health and wildlife, and costs associated with an outbreak can spiral into the billions of pounds, a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. The 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth cost an estimated £13.8 billion in today's prices, with farming businesses devastated, thousands of animals slaughtered and the countryside shut to recreation and tourism. And 7.2 million birds have been culled in avian flu outbreaks since 2020, which have also devasted wild seabird colonies across the UK. But while the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has worked hard to tackle recent outbreaks, the NAO said it is likely the public bodies would struggle with a more severe outbreak or concurrent serious outbreaks. A report from the NAO warned that long-term resilience to disease in livestock was being undermined by officials having to focus on increasingly frequent outbreaks – and there was no long-term strategy for improving the situation. There are significant gaps in contingency plans for outbreaks, and plans for specific diseases have not been updated with the latest findings, with its strategy for coping with foot and mouth disease not updated since 2011. Just 5% of live animal imports are undergoing physical checks, all taking place at the final customer destination, against a target of 100% checks at border control, raising the risk of 'exotic' diseases arriving from abroad. A fifth of vet roles are vacant at the APHA, and there is a 'very high' risk of site failure at the Government's key animal science lab at Weybridge, the report said. The report said that while a £2.8 billion redevelopment programme at Weybridge was now on track, the main new laboratory facilities will not be delivered for another 10 years. The report found Defra thought there was a 'very high' risk of an outbreak to which it would be unable to respond effectively, but it lacks a long-term strategy and action plan for improving resilience to animal disease, and many of its activities are reactive rather than part of a coherent plan. A comprehensive livestock movement tracing system – crucial once infection is detected – is lacking, with the costs of an upgraded scheme now estimated at £563 million amid concerns over delivering it in the face of rising costs and funding constraints, while there are also issues with vaccine supplies. Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: 'Defra has assessed that the risk of an outbreak to which it would be unable to respond effectively is above the level it considers tolerable, but it has not determined a way to reduce this risk. 'A long-term strategy and action plan are urgently needed, to protect national economic resilience as well as food security, human health and rural communities.' Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts, said: 'Despite some good work to identify new threats, Government's preparations for a future major outbreak are being hampered by a lack of capacity, skills and long-term strategy. 'Government's failure to carry out checks on animal imports is also threatening biosecurity at the border. 'Resilience to a severe outbreak has not been tested in recent years, but the threat remains ever increasing as our livestock become more susceptible to disease. 'Without changes to the current operating system, there is a very real risk that Government would not be able to respond effectively.' Biosecurity Minister Baroness Hayman said: 'This Government's commitment to maintaining the country's biosecurity in the face of the mounting risks of disease is unwavering – we will do whatever it takes to protect our farmers and economy. 'We took immediate action to ban personal imports of meat and dairy from Europe after a wave of foot and mouth cases on the continent and, after years of underinvestment, we are investing £200 million into a new National Biosecurity Centre.'
