Team of vets give new lease of life to bear with massive tongue in Myanmar

Nyan Htoo, before the surgery. (Image courtesy: University of Edinburgh)

New Delhi: Monks in Myanmar rescued an Asiatic black bear, who had a tongue so heavy, it hung out of his mouth and dragged along the floor because of a mystery illness.

The poor animal experienced a lot of difficulty because of it and had to stand with the support of a wall to keep himself steady.

The bear named Nyan Htoo, meaning 'bright', endured a 4-hour-long surgery for the removal of nearly half a stone of tongue tissue.

Destined for illegal sale in China, Nyan was rescued as a cub along with his brother by a monastery in Myanmar.

A team of experts team travelled to Myanmar, working with local vets to carry out the tongue amputation.

According to a report in the Guardian, the bear is less than two years old and vets believe that the affliction could have been a congenital problem or elephantiasis, a parasitic infection carried by mosquitos that has never been reported to have affected bears or other animals.

Vets had been out to see him last year and tried to remove some of the excess tissue to ease the swelling but over time the tongue extended, which meant they had to undertake a more aggressive procedure, the report said.

However, despite making a good initial recovery, the swelling came back and worsened, leaving the animal with a bloated tongue hanging out of his mouth. By June 2017, the disease was seriously affecting Nyan Htoo's quality of life.

His latest surgery has the animal smiling. Check out his post surgery pic:

(Image courtesy: University of Edinburgh)

Nyan Htoo is recovering well, as per reports, and vets expect he can go on to have a more normal quality of life.