BigJon
02-21-2002, 06:50 AM
...'s little stuffed animal :heh:
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linky (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0220dragonvet20-ON.html)
story:
APPLE VALLEY, Minn. - Jim Rasmussen should be considered the front-runner for employee of the month at the Minnesota Zoo - unless somebody can top sticking their hand down a dragon's throat.
The veterinarian was forced to drastic measures after one of the zoo's two Komodo dragons, Doni, ingested a stuffed animal dropped by a visitor last month. At first Rasmussen waited the 8 1/2-foot-long dragon out, hoping it would vomit or pass the toy naturally.
With no immediate results, Doni was anesthetized, but attempts to remove the toy with a fiber-optic scope failed.
Rasmussen had heard stories of reaching down the throats of dolphins that had swallowed foreign objects, so he gave it a shot.
"I ended up putting my arm down his esophagus," Rasmussen said. Of course, it was a little more dangerous than a dolphin. Komodo dragons have "some pretty nasty bacteria" in their mouths, he said.
Doni is considered among the Minnesota Zoo's most precious animals. A gift from then-President Suharto of Indonesia in 1995, Doni is one of only 80 Komodo dragons of any kind in North American zoos and one of 263 in captivity worldwide, said Beth Jo Schoeberl, a zoologist at the Minnesota Zoo.
Komodos are native to Southeast Asia and are the world's largest lizards. They have long claws and serrated teeth that help them tear meat from animals.
Zoo officials were immediately alerted when the dragon swallowed the toy Jan. 19. It occurred about 15 minutes after one of the dragon's two weekly feedings, this one open to the public. "Doni was still in a feeding mode," Schoeberl said.
A little girl watching the feeding accidentally dropped a sweater and stuffed animals into the enclosure. Doni ended up swallowing a small stuffed cat.
Six days later, Rasmussen rolled up his sleeves and reached in to help the suffering dragon.
A 4-inch-wide pipe was put down the anesthetized dragon's throat so he couldn't bite the vet if he woke up. The toy had not been digested by the 130-pound dragon, Rasmussen learned immediately.
"It was pretty slimy," Rasmussen said. But then the job does have its advantages.
"How many other people can say they've been in the stomach of a Komodo dragon and lived to tell about it?"
picky:
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/news/gifs/breaking/0220dragonvet20-ON.jpg
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yummy fluffy bunny! :D
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linky (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0220dragonvet20-ON.html)
story:
APPLE VALLEY, Minn. - Jim Rasmussen should be considered the front-runner for employee of the month at the Minnesota Zoo - unless somebody can top sticking their hand down a dragon's throat.
The veterinarian was forced to drastic measures after one of the zoo's two Komodo dragons, Doni, ingested a stuffed animal dropped by a visitor last month. At first Rasmussen waited the 8 1/2-foot-long dragon out, hoping it would vomit or pass the toy naturally.
With no immediate results, Doni was anesthetized, but attempts to remove the toy with a fiber-optic scope failed.
Rasmussen had heard stories of reaching down the throats of dolphins that had swallowed foreign objects, so he gave it a shot.
"I ended up putting my arm down his esophagus," Rasmussen said. Of course, it was a little more dangerous than a dolphin. Komodo dragons have "some pretty nasty bacteria" in their mouths, he said.
Doni is considered among the Minnesota Zoo's most precious animals. A gift from then-President Suharto of Indonesia in 1995, Doni is one of only 80 Komodo dragons of any kind in North American zoos and one of 263 in captivity worldwide, said Beth Jo Schoeberl, a zoologist at the Minnesota Zoo.
Komodos are native to Southeast Asia and are the world's largest lizards. They have long claws and serrated teeth that help them tear meat from animals.
Zoo officials were immediately alerted when the dragon swallowed the toy Jan. 19. It occurred about 15 minutes after one of the dragon's two weekly feedings, this one open to the public. "Doni was still in a feeding mode," Schoeberl said.
A little girl watching the feeding accidentally dropped a sweater and stuffed animals into the enclosure. Doni ended up swallowing a small stuffed cat.
Six days later, Rasmussen rolled up his sleeves and reached in to help the suffering dragon.
A 4-inch-wide pipe was put down the anesthetized dragon's throat so he couldn't bite the vet if he woke up. The toy had not been digested by the 130-pound dragon, Rasmussen learned immediately.
"It was pretty slimy," Rasmussen said. But then the job does have its advantages.
"How many other people can say they've been in the stomach of a Komodo dragon and lived to tell about it?"
picky:
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/news/gifs/breaking/0220dragonvet20-ON.jpg
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yummy fluffy bunny! :D