Feelgood Animal Story Of The Week
May. 4th, 2006 04:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waitingmanFrom the US... of course.
Skippy gets plastic surgery after wolf attack
It could only happen in America - plastic surgery on a kangaroo.
The aspiring Skippy's career appeared to be on the rocks after being attacked by a wolf last year.
But then plastic surgeon of 25 years Theodore Corwin, better known for performing facelifts, tummy tucks, breast enhancements and other cosmetic procedures on humans, stepped in.
The Los Angeles-based surgeon spent two hours operating on the four-year-old kangaroo, named Feznik, to reconstruct his lip and save his burgeoning career as an actor.
"He was missing part of one side of the lip and it made him look ugly and his tooth was sticking out," Dr Corwin said today from the United States.
Before the operation, Feznik's career was on the skids - there's not much work for ugly kangaroos in Hollywood.
But three months down the track, things are looking up for the 1.3m marsupial who lives on a Californian farm for Hollywood animals used at corporate events, in movies and advertisements.
"I've talked to the vet who takes care of these animals and he said all's well, he's healing well, eating fine and looks good," Dr Corwin said.
"I don't know what's happening with his acting career. I should check on that."
Dr Corwin said Feznik was fortunate to have fur to cover over his scars.
But the operation, which involved about 25 stitches, still presented its challenges.
"The biggest difference between humans and kangaroos is that the kangaroo has a natural cleft in the middle of the upper lip so the lip doesn't go straight across, it goes up into the nose," Dr Corwin explained.
"If I had been operating on a human we would have just pulled the lip straight across and sewn one side to the other but because we had this cleft in the middle, it made it more difficult to pull this thing across over the tooth, but we managed to do it."
Dr Corwin performed the operation for no fee but he said similar surgery on a person would cost several thousand dollars.
And a not-so-feelgood one... from the same country.
Hunter kills 'grolar' bear
An American hunter in Canada's far north may have killed the first grizzly-polar bear cross ever discovered in the wild, officials said today.
Jim Martell, 65, who paid $58,570 to hunt polar bears, shot the animal, described by local media as a "pizzly", a "grolar bear", or Martell's favourite, a "polargrizz" two weeks ago.
The Idaho native told The National Post: "Everybody thought it was a polar bear, and then they started looking more and more and they seen other features that resembled some of a grizzly as well."
The bear had thick, creamy white fur, typical of polar bears, but its long claws, humped back and shallow face, as well as brown patches around its eyes, nose, back and on one foot are grizzly traits.
Geneticists have linked the two species. They believe grizzly bears ventured north some 250,000 years ago to hunt seals and that their fur turned white over time. Thus, the polar bear was born.
Odd couples have produced mixed offspring in captivity. But this is the first apparent discovery of a mixed breed in the wild, officials said.
The two species mate at different times of the year and inhabit vastly different regions - one lives on Arctic ice floes, the other in forests.
But hunters have reported seeing grizzlies further north in recent years as the Arctic warms, said Andy Carpenter, mayor of Sachs Harbour, a tiny hamlet on Banks Island where the bear was shot.
"The only way they could get here is by walking across the ice," he said.
A laboratory in western Canada is expected to solve the mystery in a few weeks after examining a sample of the bear's DNA, said Judy McLinton, a spokeswoman for the Northwest Territories' environment and natural resources department in Yellowknife.
If it is found to be a grizzly bear, Martell, whose hunting licence only allowed him to shoot polar bears, may be charged with shooting the wrong animal, officials said.
Skippy gets plastic surgery after wolf attack
It could only happen in America - plastic surgery on a kangaroo.
The aspiring Skippy's career appeared to be on the rocks after being attacked by a wolf last year.
But then plastic surgeon of 25 years Theodore Corwin, better known for performing facelifts, tummy tucks, breast enhancements and other cosmetic procedures on humans, stepped in.
The Los Angeles-based surgeon spent two hours operating on the four-year-old kangaroo, named Feznik, to reconstruct his lip and save his burgeoning career as an actor.
"He was missing part of one side of the lip and it made him look ugly and his tooth was sticking out," Dr Corwin said today from the United States.
Before the operation, Feznik's career was on the skids - there's not much work for ugly kangaroos in Hollywood.
But three months down the track, things are looking up for the 1.3m marsupial who lives on a Californian farm for Hollywood animals used at corporate events, in movies and advertisements.
"I've talked to the vet who takes care of these animals and he said all's well, he's healing well, eating fine and looks good," Dr Corwin said.
"I don't know what's happening with his acting career. I should check on that."
Dr Corwin said Feznik was fortunate to have fur to cover over his scars.
But the operation, which involved about 25 stitches, still presented its challenges.
"The biggest difference between humans and kangaroos is that the kangaroo has a natural cleft in the middle of the upper lip so the lip doesn't go straight across, it goes up into the nose," Dr Corwin explained.
"If I had been operating on a human we would have just pulled the lip straight across and sewn one side to the other but because we had this cleft in the middle, it made it more difficult to pull this thing across over the tooth, but we managed to do it."
Dr Corwin performed the operation for no fee but he said similar surgery on a person would cost several thousand dollars.
And a not-so-feelgood one... from the same country.
Hunter kills 'grolar' bear
An American hunter in Canada's far north may have killed the first grizzly-polar bear cross ever discovered in the wild, officials said today.
Jim Martell, 65, who paid $58,570 to hunt polar bears, shot the animal, described by local media as a "pizzly", a "grolar bear", or Martell's favourite, a "polargrizz" two weeks ago.
The Idaho native told The National Post: "Everybody thought it was a polar bear, and then they started looking more and more and they seen other features that resembled some of a grizzly as well."
The bear had thick, creamy white fur, typical of polar bears, but its long claws, humped back and shallow face, as well as brown patches around its eyes, nose, back and on one foot are grizzly traits.
Geneticists have linked the two species. They believe grizzly bears ventured north some 250,000 years ago to hunt seals and that their fur turned white over time. Thus, the polar bear was born.
Odd couples have produced mixed offspring in captivity. But this is the first apparent discovery of a mixed breed in the wild, officials said.
The two species mate at different times of the year and inhabit vastly different regions - one lives on Arctic ice floes, the other in forests.
But hunters have reported seeing grizzlies further north in recent years as the Arctic warms, said Andy Carpenter, mayor of Sachs Harbour, a tiny hamlet on Banks Island where the bear was shot.
"The only way they could get here is by walking across the ice," he said.
A laboratory in western Canada is expected to solve the mystery in a few weeks after examining a sample of the bear's DNA, said Judy McLinton, a spokeswoman for the Northwest Territories' environment and natural resources department in Yellowknife.
If it is found to be a grizzly bear, Martell, whose hunting licence only allowed him to shoot polar bears, may be charged with shooting the wrong animal, officials said.
