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A Wildlife Rescue Center

An adolescent lioness saved from conflict-ridden Ukraine has received vital oral operation to extract a badly decayed fang resulting from an infection.

The lioness was brought to a wildlife sanctuary in Kent, England on 14 March following a fundraising effort by managing director the sanctuary's leader, who collected £500,000 to support her and four other rescued lions.

The Rescue Center

The surgery was performed on Friday by dentist Peter Kertesz, who has cared for hundreds of large felines.

"When I examined Lira's jaw and mouth, I could see immediately the damaged fang was highly inflamed," said Mr Kertesz.

He believed the dental issue was due to a trauma experienced more than a year ago, leading to bacteria producing harmful substances within the fang.

"The approach I follow is non-human oral health issues need to be treated in the most predictable, the least invasive and safest way," he said.

Mr Kertesz clarified that as Lira did not need to hunt for food, extraction was the most "sensible and ethical solution."

The Big Cat Sanctuary

The sanctuary said the extracted tooth was 3.14 inches in length, with the dentist having to remove a accumulated infection from beneath the tooth and seal the large wound with multiple absorbable stitches.

He also performed a root canal treatment on the corresponding top fang, which was also found to be infected.

The curator, manager at The Big Cat Sanctuary, declared the procedure was a "total triumph."

She said the staff had observed "a minor swelling on the lioness's face" but it had been impossible to determine "how serious the condition was."

"Lira will be a little uncomfortable to initially, but now that the toxins are removed from her system, she will start to feel much better over the next few days," added Ms Smith.

This vital operation represents a major milestone in the lioness's healing process after her arrival from the conflict area.