"When Imani arrived to be a companion to Heidi, we knew fairly early on that she was actually blind. When we looked into the case, we knew afterwards that she had been blind, probably as a congenital issue, really from birth."
"She knew how to get around it, but when she arrived with us, it was all new, so she was bumping into things, you know, different pools and all that,"
"We started the plan with the team, the welfare scientists, Lucy and with the keepers,"
"Anaesthetic in a hippo is not easy. They're aquatic animals. If they go underwater, they won't survive. To keep them out of the water, that's a big deal."
Imani, an 18-year-old common hippopotamus, arrived in Dublin in October to join resident hippo Heidi and was found to be blind, likely from a congenital condition. She had adapted to her previous habitat in Antwerp but struggled in the unfamiliar Dublin environment, bumping into pools and structures. Dublin Zoo animal care, veterinary, and behaviour teams, together with welfare scientists and keepers, developed a treatment plan. Anaesthesia posed major risks because hippos are aquatic and can drown if they go underwater, and thick skin limited intravenous access, so veins under the tongue were used. Ophthalmologist Dr Laurent Dillie identified a severe, irreparable cataract in the right eye and an operable cataract in the left eye and performed micro-surgical lens emulsification that restored vision.
Read at Irish Independent
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