COURSTEY TOI  FEB 3
Surgeon to gift artificial limb to tiger with amputated paw
Vijay.Pinjarkar@timesgroup.com

Nagpur: In what could be a first anywhere in the world, a top orthopaedic surgeon and leading veterinary doctors of the Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Science University (MAFSU) have come together to implant a prosthetic limb on a male tiger whose paw was amputated in 2012 after it got caught in a steel trap laid by poachers outside Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve.

“The procedure has been done for dogs and elephants around the world but not for tigers,” said orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sushrut Babhulkar, who “adopted” the eight-year-old tiger, Sahebrao, currently living at the Gorewada Rescue Centre in the city.

Pained to see the limping big cat, which weighs 200kg and is perhaps the largest tiger in the country, Dr Babhulkar said he would procure an artificial limb from AO Foundation in Germany, which has expertise in fixing fractures of humans and animals.

“I’ll talk to AO and ensure Sahebrao starts walking gracefully. He is the pride of the region,” said the doctor said.

Sahebrao, then two years old, and his male sibling were caught in the poachers’ trap. While the sibling died, Sahebrao was rescued and treated for an injured front left paw