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A Wildlife Rescue Center

An adolescent female lion saved from conflict-ridden the war zone has undergone critical dental surgery to remove a badly decayed canine tooth resulting from an abscess.

The lioness was brought to The Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden, Kent on March 14 following a fundraising effort by director the sanctuary's leader, who collected £500,000 to fund her and several other lions from Ukraine.

The Rescue Center

The procedure was performed on last week by dentist an experienced animal dentist, who has treated about 450 big cats.

"Upon inspecting the lioness's oral cavity, I could see right away the broken tooth was highly inflamed," said Mr Kertesz.

He believed the dental issue was caused by a trauma experienced over twelve months back, leading to germs producing harmful substances inside the tooth.

"The approach I follow is non-human dental problems need to be treated in the safest, the least invasive and safest way," he explained.

Mr Kertesz explained that as the lioness no longer required to catch prey, extraction was the most "logical and humane option."

The Big Cat Sanctuary

The sanctuary said the extracted tooth was 8cm (3.14 inches) long, with Mr Kertesz having to remove a pocket of pus from beneath the tooth and seal the large wound with seven dissolving sutures.

He also performed a root canal treatment on the opposing upper canine tooth, which was also found to be infected.

The curator, curator at The Big Cat Sanctuary, declared the procedure was a "complete success."

She noted the staff had observed "a small lump on Lira's jawline" but it had been difficult to determine "how serious the condition was."

"Lira will be a little uncomfortable to initially, but now that the infectious materials are removed from her system, she will begin improving over the next few days," commented Ms Smith.

This vital operation represents a significant step in Lira's recovery after her arrival from the conflict area.