BENGALURU: Veterinarians conducted an episiotomy on a 50-year-old elephant in Bannerghatta Biological Park on Thursday to save the live of the mother.
“We had to do the surgery, or else Suvarna would have died within a day or two. This is the first time it has been done in any zoo or elephant rescue centre in India. Normally, when a foetus dies, the uterus starts to decay and the animal also dies. It is only during postmortem that the cause is known. In this case, we were successful in the surgery,” BBP veterinarian Umashankar told The New Indian Express.
Suvarna has so far given birth to nine calves. She is responding well to the treatment and is eating. She has been isolated from the herd and is under observation. After her water burst, she was in constant pain and was unable to give birth as the foetus was not in the right birth position.