Dental surgery for polar bear Giovanna

The polar bear was placed under general anaesthesia and had the broken canine tooth, which had already caused severe inflammation, removed from her lower jaw. It is unclear why Giovanna's canine tooth broke off, although such dental incidents are not uncommon among bears. In order to prevent further spread of the inflammation and other associated health issues, the Hellabrunn Zoo veterinary team, in consultation with the Polar World zookeepers, decided to operate on Giovanna. 'Preparing for this type of surgery requires a lot of planning - because the procedure has to be gone through as precisely as possible so that it can be carried out quickly and without complications,' says senior veterinarian, Dr Christine Gohl.

Thanks to medical behaviour training, which the zookeepers have been practising with the polar bears at Hellabunn Zoo almost daily for several years, the vets were able to obtain a blood sample from Giovanna without anaesthesia to assess her state of health ten days prior to the surgery. In addition to taking blood, the medical behaviour training also made it easy to X-ray Giovanna's lower jaw in advance. 'With the help of the X-ray images, we were able to see the full extent of the inflammation that had originated in the tooth much more clearly and confirm that an intervention was required,' explains Dr Gohl. In order to take the X-ray of Giovanna's jaw while she was awake, a specially-designed Plexiglas box was installed in her enclosure. Giovanna, with the help of her zookeeper, was then required to place her head inside the box and hold still for a few seconds. 'With a lot of practice and, of course, a few treats for good behaviour, Giovanna did a great job,' adds Dr Gohl. 'This is actually the first time we have ever taken an X-ray of a bear at Hellabrunn.'

The surgery lasted about three hours - including the induction of anaesthesia and the waking up phase - thanks to careful preparation of the procedure. It was conducted in Giovanna's home environment, the birthing den behind the tundra habitat. The years of medical behaviour training also came in handy for administering the anaesthetic, as the vet was able to inject it by hand, while the animal remained calm and relaxed.

'This procedure really shows how important medical behaviour training with wild animals is, as it not only makes it much easier to perform treatments, but also ensures that such procedures can be carried out in a much more relaxed and stress-free manner,' says Dr Gohl. The next day after the operation, Giovanna was fit again and took part in her medical training with the same level of trust in the zookeepers as she did before the operation.

A surgical procedure at Hellabrunn Zoo like this is carried out with meticulous preparation and coordination. The welfare of the animals always comes first. In addition to the Hellabrunn veterinary team, Prof Dr Ralf Müller from the Medical Small Animal Clinic of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and the Polar World zookeeper team were also present to support the vets and to place the bear in an optimal position after falling asleep. It was also important that Giovanni had people she trusted around her during the procedure.

At Hellabrunn Zoo, there are two internal vets and one external practitioner who take care of the residents' health needs on a daily basis. Consultation with the zookeepers is essential, especially as they look after the animals on a daily basis and notice even the slightest change in behaviour. Since wild animals have a tendency to hide signs of illness or weakness for as long as possible, some illnesses may only be recognised very late. For better health assessment, Hellabrunn has been using medical behaviour training for a number of years to gain the animals' cooperation for collecting blood samples and conducting ultrasound or other examinations, if possible without anaesthesia. The training programme includes polar bears, tigers, elephants, primates and giraffes. Thanks to the training sessions, the health of these animals can be more closely monitored so that diseases can be detected earlier.