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A Wildlife Rescue Center

An adolescent lioness rescued from conflict-ridden Ukraine has undergone critical dental surgery to extract a severely infected canine tooth resulting from an infection.

Lira arrived at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden, Kent on 14 March following a campaign by director the sanctuary's leader, who collected £500,000 to support her and several other lions from Ukraine.

The Rescue Center

The procedure was carried out on last week by dentist Peter Kertesz, who has cared for hundreds of large felines.

"When I examined Lira's jaw and mouth, I could see immediately the damaged fang was severely infected," said Mr Kertesz.

He thought the dental issue was caused by a injury experienced over twelve months back, causing germs producing toxins within the fang.

"My philosophy is non-human oral health issues need to be treated in the safest, the least invasive and most secure manner," he said.

Mr Kertesz clarified that as the lioness did not need to hunt for food, extraction was the most "sensible and ethical solution."

The Big Cat Sanctuary

The sanctuary reported the removed fang was 8cm (3.14 inches) long, with the dentist having to remove a pocket of pus from beneath the tooth and seal the large wound with multiple absorbable stitches.

He also performed a dental procedure on the corresponding top fang, which was also found to be infected.

Briony Smith, manager at The Big Cat Sanctuary, declared the procedure was a "complete success."

She said the staff had observed "a small lump on the lioness's face" but it had been difficult to determine "how serious the condition was."

"The lioness will be a little uncomfortable to initially, but now that the infectious materials are out of her body, she will start to feel much better over the next few days," added the curator.

This vital operation represents a significant step in the lioness's healing process after her rescue from Ukraine.