[REVISION HISTORY]

Elephant tusk surgery at Berlin Zoo

Updated 1 time since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-10-15 11:15 UTC → 2026-10-16 09:41 UTC · added ~~removed~~

A two-year-old male elephant named Simon at the Berlin Zoo underwent emergency surgery to treat a broken tusk. The injury exposed sensitive dental pulp, which veterinary dentist Yves Debosschere described as a “medical emergency”. To address the injury, a specialist from Belgium performed a procedure involving X-rays and the sealing of the wound to preserve pulp vitality, a technique similar to those used in humans. This approach aims to allow the tusk to continue growing normally. Lead veterinarian Frank Göritz of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research noted that anesthetizing an elephant for such an operation is “not a routine procedure”. Following the successful operation on October 12, 2026, Simon has recovered and been reunited with his mother, Tana. The ~~zoo reported confidence in~~ procedure involved a pulp capping technique that required approximately twenty times the ~~outcome following~~ amount of filling material used in human dental work due to the ~~successful sealing~~ scale of the ~~injury.~~ tusk. While veterinarians noted that long-term guarantees for normal tusk regrowth cannot be provided, Simon remains under observation and is receiving pain medication.

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