Bulwagi, the African Elephant, Doing Well Post-Surgery

The Birmingham Zoo is pleased to announce that following yesterday’s surgery, Bulwagi, the 35-year-old African bull elephant, is doing well. After nearly three hours of trying to remove the tusk, the decision was made to cut the tusk to give the veterinary staff better access to manage the infection. The team managed to remove a portion of the cracked tusk, leaving the remainder of the tusk intact. Bulwagi did very well under anesthesia and is eating and drinking normally. “We had a great team in place that made the procedure go very smoothly. While we were hoping to remove the whole tusk, after working for three hours on the extraction without seeing the results we needed, we did not want to keep Bulwagi under anesthesia any longer. We fortunately had planned for a variety of scenarios, and were able to go with the plan to partially remove the tusk. This will allow us to have better access to manage the infection than before the procedure,” says the Zoo’s Director of Animal Health, Dr. Stephanie McCain, DVM, Dipl ACZM.

The Birmingham Zoo is a leader in elephant husbandry and management and committed to the highest standards of care for all its animals. We are proud of the dedication and commitment of Zoo Staff and outside experts towards animal care, and thank the community for their continued support of the Birmingham Zoo.

For the press release, click here.