Q How do you test a 97st polar bear for allergies? A With 8 wildlife experts ... and VERY carefully!
WEIGHING a massive 97 stone, Victor the polar bear is not one to let the little things get him down.
But some can get right up his nose. And, it seems, pollen may just be one of them.
Victor has had to have a series of allergy tests, including one for hay fever, after his keepers at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park noticed he wasn’t his usual laid-back self.
Of course, finding out exactly what the matter was with a bear as big as him was never going to be a picnic.
First, the 19-year- old animal had to be anaesthetised. Then he was manoeuvred into a comfortable position, which proved such a task the photographer present was even asked to put his camera down and lend a hand.
An oxygen pipe was put down Victor’s throat so he continued breathing while sedated.
Next, a section of his thick, oily and water-repellent fur on his side had to be shaved, so tests could be carried out to establish what he was allergic to.
A team of dermatologists from Liverpool University joined the park’s of vets to conduct the tests. At one point, eight experts were involved.
Different potential allergens were introduced into around 50 test sites, to see which ones produce a reaction.
The results will be known in the coming days.
Kim Wilkins, carnivore team leader at the wildlife park near Doncaster, said: ‘The ones they react to come up as a little bump on the skin.
‘Once we know what they are reacting to we can make them a special serum and inject them every few months to make them a lot more comfortable.’
The tests were carried out on Victor after he and another of the park’s polar bears, Nobby, aged two, began developing abscesses on their paws, which can be an indication of an allergy.
Staff suspected it was caused by an allergic reaction to pollen after the pair moved from concrete enclosures elsewhere to the more natural setting at the attraction near Doncaster.
Animal manager Debbie Porter said it was often the case that bears which had previously been in sterile, frequently disinfected enclosures developed pollen allergies when they were moved to more natural quarters.
She said they had previously tried antibiotics which had helped, and antihistamines, which had not.
So they decided that trying to find the right serum for Victor and Nobby was the best longterm solution.
Victor was said to be none the worse after the tests on Wednesday. ‘He’s come around nicely, he’s very calm and seems settled,’ said a spokesman for the park yesterday.
Victor, who is the oldest polar bear in the country, became the first polar bear to live in England for about a decade when he arrived at the park in 2014 from a Dutch zoo.
Nobby, is the park’s newest addition after coming from Munich Zoo in February.
‘A lot more comfortable’