GREAT BEND, Kansas – A trip to the dentist is no fun for anyone, but imagine being a dentist and having a lion as a patient.
For most, just getting near Mumbasa would be a heart-pounding experience. But imagine giving the African lion a root canal. That’s what happened at the Brit Spaugh Zoo in Great Bend after Mumbasa chipped a tooth Friday night.
"It's about an inch-long tooth,” said Scott Gregory, zoo director. “The lion was trying to grab on to his enclosure fence. Unfortunately, it was kind of weak to begin with, so the tooth chipped off."
They had 48 hours to save Mumbasa’s tooth before it was taken out for good. But there was only one way to do it – the same way anyone would. Mumbasa got a visit from the dentist.
"We treat our animals just like people here,” Gregory said.
But the zoo knew it was low on resources, so it called on a few Wichita friends to help out.
"We put together a team, and we put it together over a very short period of time, over the weekend so we'd be prepared on Monday morning to put the male tiger to sleep so that we could do the procedure,” said Mike Malone, Great Bend veterinarian.
It’s another example of a flourishing partnership between the Sedgwick County Zoo and Great Bend, which led to some major upgrades in animal care.
And in the first year of its partnership with the Sedgwick County Zoo, Gregory says it's been able to provide the highest quality of procedures for its animals. He says it’s all part of his goal to help the zoo obtain industry accreditation – an approval that could mean more money for the zoo.
As for Mumbasa, he has a few groggy days ahead of him before he can reclaim his starring role at the zoo.
