Salem: In a rare surgery, wildlife veterinarians on Monday set right a wing bone fracture in an Indian black kite in Salem, said to mark a milestone in bird surgeries in Tamil Nadu. The 20-day-old fracture had put the poor bird in tremendous pain with the veterinarians noting that the fracture on the ‘right side humerus bone’ was complete.
The approximately two-year-old suffering winged creature was rescued by members of the public in Tirupur, said Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve forest veterinary officer, Dr K Ashokan.
Usually birds which suffer a wing bone fracture are “thrown away”, but “for the first time in Tamil Nadu we have successfully treated this bird and set right the fracture,” Dr Ashokan told DC here.
The rescuers of the bird handed it over to the ‘Thangam Trust’ here, where the kite was hand-fed without disturbing its fractured part. The bird was referred to Dr Ashokan who took the bird and kept it safely in the Sathyamangalam range office.
After obtaining an appointment from Dr M Amarnath, of ‘Amulya Pets Specialty Clinic’ in Salem, “we jointly preformed the intermedullary pinning with 2 mm k wire and stabilized the right wing with external cooptation method as it is a pretty old fracture,” said Dr Ashokan.
“We have been trying our best to restore its normal function and the bird recovered uneventful from anesthesia and recovered after surgery,” he added.
The Kite now is at the Forest department’s veterinary hospital at Bhavanisagar and is under the constant observation of veterinary doctors. The bird will be under observation for 30 days and after ascertaining the status of the healing process through an x-ray after that period, the pin will be removed from the bird and it will be “made to fly” before being released into the forest again, sources added.
