A brown bear who underwent pioneering brain surgery has emerged from semi-hibernation in good health – a breakthrough in his recovery.
Three-year-old Boki, a resident of Wildwood Trust near Canterbury, Kent, had been suffering from seizures believed to be caused by hydrocephalus (a build-up of fluid on the brain).
He had been receiving medication, but this would have been unsustainable once he entered his period of semi-hibernation, known as torpor.
Faced with this challenge, the Wildwood team made the unprecedented decision to pursue brain surgery. In a five-hour procedure on October 9, 2024, Boki became the first brown bear on record to undergo such an operation.
World-renowned veterinary surgeon Romain Pizzi, who donated his services, inserted a stent to drain excess fluid from Boki's brain to his abdomen.
A Wildwood spokesperson reported that Boki made a "remarkable recovery" and was successfully weaned off his medication before entering torpor.
His recent emergence from semi-hibernation marked a crucial stage in his recovery, according to Wildwood's head of bears, Jon Forde.
Boki was “looking brilliant, happy and healthy”, Mr Forde said.
“We haven’t seen any negative signs from him. All his personality traits are still there – he’s still the same old Boki that we love,” he said.
“Boki did well for his first ever winter sleep. He lost around 30kg – we think a lot of this because he’s actually grown while he was asleep so a lot of energy has been used for that.
“Our first job will be to put some weight back on him. At this time of year there’s not a lot of food around – mostly vegetation – so we’ll get some weight back on him but start him slow and take our time and make 100 per cent sure he’s healthy.”
Boki had been adopted from Port Lympne Wild Animal Reserve in December 2022 after he was rejected by his mother and had to be hand-reared by keepers there.
The Wildwood spokesperson said: “The team at Wildwood, renowned for their work with brown bears, had to help him learn bear behaviours. As part of this work, they had begun to integrate him with their two adult bears – Fluff and Scruff.
“This had to stop with the onset of his seizures but the hope is that they’ll be reunited in the not too distant future.”
Wildwood’s head of zoo operations Mark Habben said: “What a remarkable transformation we’ve seen in this young bear – he’s back to being the Boki we first met. It’s like he’s forgotten that he even had an operation.
“While the signs are very positive, we still need to proceed with caution and to take care with the reintroduction to Fluff and Scruff.
“This will involve boisterous play, which we want to minimise in these early stages post-torpor.
“We will monitor him very closely and, at some point over the coming months, we will conduct that introduction if everything continues to go well.
“We have to take this step for his wellbeing and theirs as well – they want to be together.”
