Elderly penguin undergoes cataracts op

A team at Animal Health Trust (AHT) have managed to save the sight of a penguin from Colchester Zoo.

Nineteen-year-old Wellamy, a female humboldt penguin, was assessed and referred to the AHT after zookeepers began to notice that her sight was deteriorating.

She was diagnosed with severe cataracts in both eyes and surgery to restore her vision was the only way to allow her to continue living a happy life with the rest of the zoo's penguin colony.

As birds are notoriously difficult to anaesthetise, the AHT called on Steven Philp, from the International Zoo Veterinary Group (IZVG), to assist the team.

Both eyes were operated on during one procedure and, after the op, Wellamy was kept in isolation for several weeks. She remained under close observation by vet John Lewis and keeper Kate Broad.

"Wellamy was hatched here at the zoo, so we've grown very close to her – she is a real character," said Kate. "We're extremely pleased that, thanks to the treatment she's received, she will be able to live a much happier life."

Claudia Hartley, head of Ophthalmology at the AHT, returned to the zoo several times with her team during the weeks prior to the procedure. Together they monitored how Wellamy's eyes were healing and to see how she was getting on back in her enclosure a month later.

"I was delighted to see that she looked fantastic, really full of herself, crowing with her mates," commented Ms Hartley. "The transformation was really quite incredible.

"Restoring vision in animals is really like nothing else – it makes you feel like a hero," she added.

Image courtesy of Colchester Zoo