Unusual Operation on Armenian Elephant

A 23-year-old elephant from Armenia has undergone a complicated tusk surgery in a zoo in the capital of Tbilisi.

The elephant, Grand, was brought in 2014 with both of his tusks broken and infected.

The animal had to wait nearly four years for the second operation due to complications.

The flood that hit the Georgian capital in 2015, killing 12 people and setting more than 30 zoo animals free, also caused a delay in Grand’s treatment.

“The rehabilitation process is a long one. It takes anything from 12 to 18 months for that hole to actually close fully. And as we saw with the opposite side, it’s not even closed after four years. But it’s not infected, it’s fine. So I think we can expect the same, that it will take a while, it may take about 12 to 18 months period, but then it should be fine,” Gerhard Steenkamp, a veterinarian said.

Grand was up on his feet shortly after the surgery was over, which caused applause among those waiting outside his pen.