The bear, named Nyan htoo ("bright"), started showing signs of a curious ailment: his tongue was swelling to a prodigious size.Vets operated in 2016 to try and solve the problem, but after a good initial recovery, the tongue start to grow back bigger than ever.By Jyle 2017 the bear's tongue became 3 kilograms and it couldn't move it's head because of additional weight.
Vets from around the world have saved Nyan htoo a second time. Heather Bacon from the University of Edinburgh's veterinary school, veterinary nurse Caroline Nelson from the Animals Asia Bear Rescue Centre in Vietnam and Romain Pizzi from Wildlife Surgery International flew to Myanmar and worked together with local vets to amputate the tongue. Because this is the first time this has been seen in a bear, the team aren't entirely sure what caused it. They do suspect the condition was caused by a disease called lymphatic filariasis, a type of elephantiasis caused by parasitic worms spread by mosquitoes.
It's actually quite common in humans in Myanmar, but it it's really what caused Nyan htoo's tongue to swell, it will be the first time this condition has been observed in a bear.Thankfully, the story has a happy ending, since the surgery was successful and Nyan htoo is now recovering and adapting to his new life without the painful disfigurement in his mouth.
