Wildlife Pharmaceuticals, a company that specialises in the research and manufacturing of products with the aim of enhancing the well-being of animals worldwide, recently helped save Earth’s most northern elephant.

This six tonne elephant bull waited four years for this. It suffered from a chronic draining abscess on its left shoulder and members of the team at the Estonian zoo in Tallinn where it was kept, were reluctant to immobilise it.
“Due to its weight there was a real risk that once down, it would never get up again or injure itself during the process,” said the company’s CEO, Dr Cobus Raath.
Standing anaesthesia was the only option.
Wildlife Pharmaceuticals presents worldwide courses in zoo, exotic and wildlife anaesthesia. Following a recent course in Russia, members were invited to assist with this elephant bull, which is believed to have been relocated from SA about 33 years ago.

Members of Wildlife Pharmaceuticals, Dr Silke Pfitzer, Dr Liesel Williams, Dr Cobus Raath and Dr Aleks Senjonov, one of the vets of Tallinn Zoo, researched and developed a method to achieve standing anaesthesia using a new immobilisation product. This groundwork was done at Kapama Endangered Species Trust, which collaborated with Wildlife Pharmaceuticals to develop this new anaesthetic method.

After the research concluded and yielded positive results, Dr Raath and Dr Senjonov travelled to Tallinn to conduct the anaesthesia. A group of Estonian surgeons treated the abscess and sutured the wound. The procedure lasted an hour and 45 minutes and the anaesthesia could immediately be reversed. Fifteen minutes after the antidote was injected, the elephant was on his way and is currently on the road to recovery.

Dr Raath said that this fully reversible anaesthetic is the future as it reduces risk during any procedure.

For more information, contact Dr Raath at md@wildpharm.co.za or visit the website on https://wildpharm.net/