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Surgery went well, say SA vets
16/05/2007 13:35 - (SA)
Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian orangutan was recovering well on Wednesday following cataract surgery, said to be the first conducted on its species, according to park officials.
A team comprising two South African veterinarians and a local vet performed the surgery on Aman, the 19-year old male orangutan, at the Matang Wildlife Centre in the eastern state of Sarawak on Borneo island.
Aman was due to have undergone the operation on Tuesday, but the procedure had to be delayed as certain equipment was awaiting customs clearance, said officials.
Preparations for the surgery began early on Wednesday, and several hours after the hour-long operation, Aman was seen to be "recovering well and is already standing up", said park warden Said Salim.
"We're all very happy, because he looks OK and the operation went well, according to the doctors," Said said in a telephone interview from the park where Aman will continue to rest during his recovery.
He said the bandages on Aman's eyes would remain for a few more days, adding that it would take close to a week to know how much of the orangutan's sight has been recovered.
Aman's eyesight had been deteriorating since 2000, when he first arrived at the wildlife centre.
The surgery on Aman's eyes has been hailed as the first in the world, said officials.
South African animal ophthalmologist Izak Venter, who headed the surgical team, had said Aman's vision would not be perfect following the procedure, but the animal would be able to move and identify objects.
Aman, who has two offspring, was first rescued from a market in Sarawak in 1989 and then kept as a pet for three months before he was surrendered to a rehabilitation centre.
He has had two serious accidents at the centre.
Aman bit an electric cable and had to have his tongue removed and in 2000, his left index finger was bitten off by another orangutan.
Orangutans, a species of the great ape with long arms and coarse, long hair, are native to Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia. - Sapa-dpa
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