Rare ultrasound scan performed on elephant in Kerala

The tusker has been suffering from vision loss and the ultrasonogram was performed to detect the cause and decide on treatment.

Kollam: An ultrasound scan has been performed on an elephant to find the cause for its poor eyesight at Kollam district in Kerala.

The tusker named Kannan, aged 45 years, owned by Chinnu a native of Mavelikkara, has undergone the ultrasonogram (USG) scan to decide on the further course of treatment.

The treatment is being done at Dr B Aravindan’s Companian Animal Hospital and Resource Centre in Kollam. The elephant’s eyes have turned whitish and it suffers from vision loss.

The scanning was done while the equipment was inside the room and the elephant stood outside. The mahouts and the doctor had a tough time keeping the elephant in position for the scan. They found it difficult to even make the elephant lie down on the ground to give an injection. The doctor said a scan on an elephant is rare.

Results from the scan done on an elephant are not like images from scans on humans. The scan was a challenge in itself, and it was successful, the doctor said.

The tusker has a cataract in its right eye. In the left eye, it has ‘corneal opacity’, a condition affecting the cornea of the eye, possibly due to minor abrasions. This can be treated using injections. It has been planned to perform the cataract removal surgery on the right eye after a month.

The cataract surgery in elephants will not be like the one usually done on human beings. In human beings, cataract surgery is done by replacing the lens. In elephants, however, only the cataract would be removed through the procedure under anaesthesia, the doctor explained.