Test 1 Faculty vets restore order to Chaos, the lion’s face with radiation therapy

Click on the link to view the insert on eNCA: https://youtu.be/EA0hmOqqW-Y

Chaos, a 16-year old lion from the Lory Park Zoo, yesterday underwent his second round of radiation for skin cancer at the Mediclinic Muelmed in Pretoria following the discovery of the condition by veterinarians in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at UP.

In April, Chaos was diagnosed with a rare squamous cell carcinoma on his nose and flank by Dr Katja Koeppel, a wildlife veterinarian in the Onderstepoort Faculty of Veterinary Science. “Due to the location of the tumour on the nose and the fact that the lion is not easy to handle, excision of the tumour was not possible”, Dr Koeppel says. A decision was made in consultation with Prof Gerhard Steenkamp, another very experienced veterinarian in the Faculty, to try radiation therapy.

Now recovering after his second session, the big cat will undergo further treatment in the next few weeks. According to Dr Koeppel, Chaos is responding very well to the treatment. “The lesion seems to be shrinking. Chaos will undergo a total of 4 treatments at Muelmed over a period of 4 weeks”, she says.

In order to make this possible the lion has to be darted and moved in an anaesthetised condition to the hospital for treatment and then returned to the zoo in his crate. As he weighs around 260 kg this is a huge operation which requires a lot of hands. Yesterday, Dr Koeppel was accompanied by some of the Faculty’s students who rallied at the opportunity to assist and observe.

Chaos is one of the original cats that was brought to the Lory Park Zoo in Midrand when it opened.