Ricky, the lone 15-year-old male South American Jaguar at Vandalur zoo in Chennai, has lost one of his eyes and may lose the other too, due to glaucoma.
Unlike in human beings, zoo authorities said, this disease could not be identified at earlier stages in animals, particularly carnivores.
They added that experts from Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, and Smithsonian Institution, Washington, USA, visited the zoo to assess the extent of damage to the eyes of the jaguar.
“By the time the team examined him, the carnivore had already lost one of its eyes,” said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and zoo director K.S.S.V.P. Reddy.
Blind in one eye
“The doctors found the animal to be totally blind in one eye and beyond any correction,” he said.
A team of specialists headed by Mohammed Shafiuzama from Madras Veterinary College performed a surgery on the animal to remove the damaged eyeball. They also confirmed that the eye also had to be removed at the earliest.
Ricky had already lost his ferocity after his vision began to dim, and another surgery would allow him to live his final days peacefully, zoo authorities explained. “South American Jaguars live for 15 years in the wild and tend to live another two or three years, if in captivity. The removal of both eye balls would not affect the animal’s routine as it seems to have already prepared to live with blindness,” they added.
Zoo veterinarians are constantly monitoring Ricky’s condition and painkillers and antibiotics are being administered to help the animal recuperate, officials said.
Experts from TANUVAS and Smithsonian Institution, USA, visited the zoo to assess the extent of damage to its eyes
Unlike in human beings, this disease could not be identified at earlier stages in animals, particularly carnivores
