A giant panda underwent surgery on Thursday in Xi'an, the
capital of northwest China's Shaanxi
Province, as veterinarians attempted to repair its broken
back.
During the two-and-a-half-hour operation, four orthopedists,
three anesthetists and two nurses at the Animal Experimental Center
at Xijing Hospital worked to mend Kang Kang's broken thoracic
vertebra, stabilize his spinal cord and remove sections from two
other vertebrae to reduce pressure on the spinal nerves.
Li Mingquan, chief surgeon and director of the Department of
Orthopedics at Xijing Hospital, said, "It is difficult to say if
the panda will be able to stand properly after the operation, but
we have certainly stabilized the injury and prolonged the animal's
life."
The doctors say they will have to wait three months before they
know how effective the procedure has been.
The injured panda was found on April 4 in Shaanxi Province's
Changqing Nature Reserve and was transferred to Xi'an on April 6,
said Zhao Bin, director of Shaanxi Rare Wildlife Rescue and
Research Center, who gave the official go-ahead for the
operation.
April is the peak mating season for the giant panda, and it is
believed that Kang Kang was injured in a fight over a female.
When the 20-year-old animal was found, veterinarians discovered
that the broken vertebra and damage to his spinal cord were causing
partial paralysis.
It is the first time such an operation has been carried out on a
panda and the experience adds valuable information to experts'
store of knowledge on the unusual creatures.
Specialists hope to be able to add Kang Kang to the panda
breeding program.
"If the reproductive organs of the injured panda are not damaged
and semen can be extracted and frozen, it will provide valuable
material for our artificial insemination program," Zhao said.
There are some 300 giant pandas in Shaanxi's Qinling Mountains,
where the 30,000-hectare Changqing Nature Reserve was established
in 1994.
According to Worldwide Fund for Nature, in 2004 there were an
estimated 1,600 pandas living in the wild.
(China Daily, China.org.cn April 15, 2005)
