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A Wildlife Rescue Center

An adolescent lioness saved from war-torn Ukraine has received critical dental surgery to extract a badly decayed canine tooth resulting from an abscess.

The lioness arrived at a wildlife sanctuary in Smarden, Kent on 14 March following a campaign by managing director the sanctuary's leader, who raised half a million pounds to support her and four other rescued lions.

The Rescue Center

The surgery was performed on Friday by veterinary dentist an experienced animal dentist, who has cared for hundreds of large felines.

"Upon inspecting Lira's jaw and mouth, I could see right away the damaged fang was highly inflamed," stated Mr Kertesz.

He thought the infection was due to a trauma experienced over twelve months back, causing bacteria producing harmful substances within the fang.

"My philosophy is non-human dental problems should be addressed in the safest, the most conservative and most secure manner," he explained.

Mr Kertesz clarified that as Lira did not need to hunt for food, extraction was the most "logical and humane option."

The Big Cat Sanctuary

The sanctuary reported the extracted tooth was 8cm (3.14 inches) long, with the dentist having to remove a accumulated infection from under the fang and close the large wound with multiple absorbable stitches.

He also performed a root canal treatment on the opposing upper canine tooth, which was discovered to have a similar issue.

Briony Smith, manager at The Big Cat Sanctuary, said the operation was a "complete success."

She noted the team had spotted "a small lump on the lioness's face" but it had been impossible to assess "how serious the condition was."

"The lioness will be a little uncomfortable to initially, but now that the toxins are removed from her system, she will begin improving over the coming days," commented the curator.

The successful surgery marks a major milestone in Lira's recovery after her rescue from Ukraine.