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A Wildlife Rescue Center

A three-year-old female lion rescued from conflict-ridden Ukraine has received critical dental surgery to remove a severely infected fang resulting from an abscess.

Lira was brought to a wildlife sanctuary in Smarden, Kent on 14 March following a campaign by managing director the sanctuary's leader, who collected half a million pounds to fund her and several other lions from Ukraine.

The Big Cat Sanctuary

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

"Upon inspecting Lira's jaw and mouth, I could see immediately the damaged fang was highly inflamed," said Mr Kertesz.

He thought the dental issue was caused by a injury sustained over twelve months back, causing bacteria creating toxins within the fang.

"The approach I follow is non-human oral health issues need to be treated in the most predictable, the most conservative and safest way," he explained.

Mr Kertesz clarified that as Lira no longer required to hunt for food, removal was the most "logical and humane option."

The Big Cat Sanctuary

The rescue center said the removed fang was 3.14 inches in length, with Mr Kertesz having to extract a pocket of pus from under the fang and close the large wound with multiple absorbable stitches.

He additionally conducted a dental procedure on the opposing upper canine tooth, which was also found to be infected.

Briony Smith, manager at the facility, said the procedure was a "total triumph."

She noted the staff had spotted "a small lump on the lioness's face" but it had been difficult to determine "how serious the condition was."

"The lioness will be somewhat sore to begin with, 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.

This vital operation marks a major milestone in the lioness's healing process after her rescue from Ukraine.