Zoo Miami calls doctor after sloth bear falls ill
“Hank” well.
Zoo Miami’s 6-year-old, 258-pound sloth bear had vomited a couple of times and wasn’t eager to eat his meals.
So, zoo officials last week decided it was time for a medical check-up and an endoscopic exam to see if there were any abnormalities in Hank’s digestive tract, said longtime Zoo Miami spokesman Ron Magill.
At the zoo’s animal hospital, staff veterinarians gathered with Mike Bateman of Storz Veterinary Endoscopy so the device could be inserted through Hank’s mouth and travel to his stomach.
Along with the endoscopic exam, Hank was Xrayed, had blood collected wasn’t feeling and given a weight and body assessment.
In the end, bill of health.
“The results of the exam did not reveal any abnormalities and Hank has since made a full recovery and is doing well back in his exhibit,” Magill said. Additionally, the bear’s appetite has returned and he hasn’t been vomiting.
Sloth bears are mostly found in the forests of the Indian subcontinent and primarily feed on fruit and insects. Because they are missing their two top front teeth, the bears especially like to feed on termites as they can form a straw with their long lips and suck them up. Hank was born at the Smithsonian National Zoo on Dec. 19, 2012 and arrived at Zoo Miami in southwest Miami-Dade on Nov. 30, 2016. it was
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