Komodo Dragon at S.A. Zoo Gets Acupuncture
SAN ANTONIO — Bubba, a 20-year-old
Komodo dragon at the San Antonio Zoo, has received acupuncture treatment for
the past several weeks to treat degenerative bone disease in both knees.
Bubba, who has lived at the zoo for
his entire life, recently has had difficulty moving, said Rob Coke, the zoo's
senior veterinarian and vet advisor for the Komodo dragon Species Survival
Plan.
To help treat Bubba, Coke said he
and his team have employed acupuncture, in addition to traditional medicine, to
help ease the dragon's movement.
"I can't fix his knees but I
can help him live with his knees," Coke said.
Acupuncture is meant to
"stimulate nerves, muscles and connective tissue" and "appears
to boost the activity of your body's natural painkillers and increase blood
flow," according to the Mayo Clinic.
According to the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society,
veterinarians use acupuncture to treat a variety of conditions in animals:
musculoskeletal, neurological, skin, respiratory, gastrointestinal and some
reproductive conditions.
Bubba's treatment, doled out weekly,
lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. On Thursday, it took a team of five zoo staff
members, including Coke, to restrain and treat Bubba, using both traditional
methods of acupuncture as well as electroacupuncture, which sends electric
pulses to points on the body via needles.
It's unclear how long zoo doctors
must continue these sessions, said Craig Pelke, curator of reptiles, amphibians
and aquatics. But with the treatment, Pelke said, Bubba will last longer than
he would on Komodo Island in Southeast Asia where Komodo dragons reside.
"It seems like you either eat
or you become eaten," Pelke said.
Bubba is part of a changing Komodo
family at the zoo. His female counterpart, Scatha, died of smoke inhalation
Dec. 16, 2013, after a hot mat in the dragons' indoor enclosure shorted out and
caught fire.
The offspring of Bubba and Scatha,
Phoenix, hatched April 3.
Bubba, resistant at the start of
treatment, slowly relaxed as the treatment continued. Coke said
"Tomorrow, you'll see a dramatic difference," Coke said after the treatment.
"Tomorrow, you'll see a dramatic difference," Coke said after the treatment.
Source of the story is here.
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