Ruben, the lonely lion who was rescued after being left alone in a closed private zoo in Armenia for five years after all the other animals were removed, today had dental surgery at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa. Ruben arrived at ADIWS in late August with serious difficulty walking and numerous damaged teeth. He has made significant progress walking and veterinarian Dr Caldwell has been working towards building up Ruben’s health and strength ready for dental surgery.

Today, Dr Caldwell sedated Ruben and prepared him for surgery. Veterinary dentist Prof Steenkamp managed to save all four of Ruben’s canine teeth by performing root canal on them. He did however have to remove several teeth on one side of his mouth which were badly damaged. Ruben is believed to have broken them chewing something really hard perhaps metal or stones – we can only speculate. Ruben will need further surgery to remove teeth damaged in the same way on the other side of his mouth, but time ran out today because the veterinarians did not want Ruben sedated for more than three and a half hours because of his other health issues. Dr Caldwell wants to avoid sedating Ruben again and further surgery for several months.

Ruben is receiving pain relief and although further dental work will be needed, both Prof. Steenkamp and Dr Caldwell belief today’s surgery will bring another substantial improvement in the quality of Ruben’s life.
Although there is more to do, today marked another incredible step forward for this remarkable and resilient lion. Ruben’s mobility continues to improve, he is regularly exploring his larger habitat and roaring with the other lions each morning and evening.

Ruben is currently in his house, still sleepy from his sedation but awake as our first pictures show. He access to the outside habitat.

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