Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune
Specialists from Florida join a Hogle Zoo team as they perform cataract surgery on zoo resident Nika, a 13-year-old harbor seal, at the care center at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City Thursday December 1, 2016. Keepers and vet staff have seen the cataracts in her eye. They began developing in one eye first and then the other. The animal eye surgeon and pinniped (seals and sea lions) anesthesiologist are in town from Florida to help because it is tricky to do anesthesia on pinnipeds because of their complicated breathing mechanism. The plan is to remove the cataracts and have Nika recover in a holding room that is part of her enclosure at the zoo. Nikki will need to stay out of the water for about three weeks to heal.
Surgery specialists from Florida join a Hogle Zoo team as they perform cataract surgery on zoo resident Nika, a 13-year-old harbor seal, at the care center at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City Thursday December 1, 2016. Keepers and vet staff have seen the cataracts in her eye. They began developing in one eye first and then the other. The animal eye surgeon and pinniped (seals and sea lions) anesthesiologist are in town from Florida to help because it is tricky to do anesthesia on pinnipeds because of their complicated breathing mechanism. The plan is to remove the cataracts and have Nika recover in a holding room that is part of her enclosure at the zoo. Nikki will need to stay out of the water for about three weeks to heal.
