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A Wildlife Rescue Center

A three-year-old female lion rescued from war-torn Ukraine has undergone critical dental surgery to extract a badly decayed canine tooth resulting from an infection.

Lira arrived at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden, Kent on March 14 following a campaign by managing director Cam Whitnall, who collected £500,000 to fund her and several other lions from Ukraine.

The Big Cat Sanctuary

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

"When I examined the lioness's oral cavity, I could see immediately the damaged fang was severely infected," said Mr Kertesz.

He believed the dental issue was caused by a injury sustained over twelve months back, causing germs creating toxins within the fang.

"The approach I follow is non-human oral health issues need to be treated in the safest, the most conservative and most secure manner," he explained.

Mr Kertesz clarified that as Lira no longer required to hunt for food, extraction was the most "sensible and ethical solution."

The Animal Rescue Facility

The sanctuary reported the removed fang was 3.14 inches in length, with Mr Kertesz having to remove a pocket of pus from under the fang and seal the large wound with multiple absorbable stitches.

He additionally conducted a root canal treatment on the opposing upper canine tooth, which was also found to be infected.

The curator, curator at the facility, declared the procedure was a "complete success."

She noted the team had observed "a minor swelling on the lioness's face" but it had been difficult to assess "how serious the condition was."

"The lioness will be somewhat sore to initially, but now that the toxins are out of her body, she will begin improving over the coming days," added the curator.

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