The Cincinnati Zoo's Komodo dragon Hudo is able to see again after a recent double cataract surgery.
A five-person squad of animal care and vet staff helped Hudo regain his sight after a procedure at MedVet on Nov. 19.
“We noticed cloudiness in his left eye and less than two weeks later his right eye also became cloudy,” said Cincinnati Zoo reptile keeper Ryan Dumas. “He stopped reacting to movement, and his behavior changed dramatically. It was evident that he could not see.”
According to the zoo, Komodo dragons are highly visual animals and, although Hudo knew his habitat well enough to get around without his vision, when they heard that ophthalmologist Dr. Vanessa Kuonen Cavens at MedVet could perform a double cataract surgery, they knew it was worth the risk.
“I love restoring and preserving the gift of sight for all my patients and was excited to partner with the Cincinnati Zoo to share my expertise and passion,” said Kuonen Cavens. “Hudo is the most unique animal on whom I’ve performed cataract surgery."
The zoo says he may be back in his habitat as early as this week, after he recovers.
Hudo is the son of Naga, a male Komodo dragon given to President George H. W. Bush from President Suharto of Indonesia in 1990. President Bush gifted Naga, and the female Komodo he received, Wanita, to the zoo because of their reputation as a breeding zoo.
Naga — once the largest Komodo in the Western Hemisphere, weighing in at 260 pounds and more than 9 feet — died of old age in 2007. And Hudo, who is now 17, is just one of Naga's offspring: he sired up to 55 hatchlings during his life.
The Komodo is a threatened species and the zoo is one of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums-managed breeding locations that participates in the Komodo Dragon Species Survival Plan.
