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A Wildlife Rescue Center

An adolescent female lion rescued from war-torn Ukraine has undergone critical dental surgery to extract a severely infected fang resulting from an abscess.

Lira arrived at a wildlife sanctuary in Smarden, Kent on March 14 after a fundraising effort by managing director the sanctuary's leader, who raised half a million pounds to support her and several other lions from Ukraine.

The Big Cat Sanctuary

The surgery was performed on Friday by veterinary dentist Peter Kertesz, who has treated about 450 big cats.

"Upon inspecting the lioness's oral cavity, I could see right away the damaged fang was highly inflamed," stated Mr Kertesz.

He thought the infection was caused by a trauma experienced over twelve months back, causing germs creating harmful substances inside the tooth.

"The approach I follow is non-human oral health issues should be addressed in the most predictable, the most conservative and most secure manner," he said.

The expert explained that as the lioness no longer required to catch prey, removal was the most "logical and humane option."

The Animal Rescue Facility

The sanctuary said the extracted tooth was 3.14 inches in length, with Mr Kertesz having to remove a pocket of pus from beneath the tooth and close the significant opening with seven dissolving sutures.

He also performed a root canal treatment on the opposing upper canine tooth, which was also found to be infected.

Briony Smith, curator at the facility, said the procedure was a "complete success."

She noted the team had spotted "a minor swelling on the lioness's face" but it had been difficult to determine "how serious the condition was."

"Lira will be a little uncomfortable to initially, but now that the infectious materials are removed from her system, she will start to feel much better over the coming days," added Ms Smith.

The successful surgery represents a major milestone in the lioness's healing process after her arrival from the conflict area.