Kakapo chick undergoes birdbrain surgery to close gap in skull

LIFE was on a knife edge for kakapo chick Espy1B, a bird whose species lives on the brink of extinction.

After hatching with a lifethreatening lump on its head, Espy was taken first to Dunedin, then to an animal hospital in Palmerston North for pioneering birdbrain surgery.

The bird, one of just 144 remaining kakapo, hatched in the wild on Codfish Island and was in the care of the Department of Conservation kakapo recovery team.

After rangers noticed a lump on its head, it was sent to the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital for a CT scan.

‘‘The CT scan showed that the plates of its skull had not completely fused and the fontanelle was still open,’’ Prof Brett Gartrell, the director of the Wildbase Hospital at Massey University, said.

‘‘The chick was hatched with a hole in its skull that allowed part of the brain and dura — the tough barrier around the brain — to herniate out.’’

In humans the gaps between the bones of the skull fill in with bone after birth. In birds, the skull usually finishes fusing together before hatching occurs.

Prof Gartrell said the concern with Espy was that if the exposed tissue was damaged the brain would be open to trauma and infection.

On Monday, Prof Gartrell led a team of vets and vet technicians in performing the highrisk, pioneering surgery, which was based on similar operations in humans and other mammals.

After opening a flap of skin, they trimmed out the bulging dura and a tiny piece of bird brain. A small square of synthetic mesh was sutured into place and infused with bone marrow before the skin flap was sutured back over the top.

The 8weekold chick is making a good recovery and is expected to be moved back to the Dunedin hospital this week. — NZME