Komodo Dragon Has Cataract Removed

SPRINGFIELD, Va. —  For Muffin, having a cataract removed from her right eye was the easy part.

With her vision repaired in possibly the first such operation on a Komodo dragon, the world’s largest species of lizard, she now faces what could be a life-threatening challenge.

Her keepers at the National Zoo want her to mate with Friendty, a male Komodo dragon four times her size. But if Friendty doesn’t find her particularly alluring, he could become violent and try to turn her into a protein-rich meal rather than the mother of his brood.

Komodo dragons often grow to 10 feet and 250 pounds. Native to Indonesia, they are listed as endangered species. Muffin, who is about 6 feet and weighs 42 pounds, is on loan to the National Zoo from the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo.

Zookeepers noticed something was wrong when Muffin turned her head so she could see with her good eye. The lizard was taken to the South Paws Veterinary Referral Center in Springfield because it has the proper equipment for the procedure.

During Wednesday’s operation, Muffin lay on her side on a white blanket with a tube pumping anesthetic hanging out of her mouth as veterinary ophthalmologist Seth Koch examined her eye with an operating microscope before proceeding with the surgery.

Using a drill-like object, Seth chopped up the lens and then cleaned it out with an aspirator.

“Wow! That went beautifully,” the doctor exclaimed five minutes later.

Koch said Muffin won’t feel any pain or any side effects from the anesthesia and will be able to see in days.

Richard Cambre, head of the National Zoo’s Animal Health Department, said it may have been the first such surgery on a Komodo dragon.

Trooper Walsh, a biologist at the zoo, said Muffin needed the cataract surgery not only for her well-being but also to prepare her to mate with Friendty.

“The operation was important because she was blind in that eye and for her to be with a male four times her size, if he were to become aggressive she needs to be able to have all her faculties in order to avoid getting hurt,” said Walsh.

“If he didn’t like her, he may decide she’s a good source of protein,” he added. “But we don’t plan to give him that chance . . . . She’s the hope of the future.”

Besides Muffin, the National Zoo owns the only reproductive female Komodo dragon outside Australia and Indonesia.

“Muffin represents a new bloodline, new genes, which we’d like to breed for genetic diversity,” Walsh said. “She’s unrelated to any of the offspring that we produced.”

But Muffin has been unable to reproduce because her ovaries are inactive, said Walsh. At 21, she also is considered too old.

Walsh said the zoo plans to inject her with hormones and monitor the ovaries with ultrasound every week to see if she responds. That also would be the first procedure of its kind on a Komodo dragon.

Walsh said he was not certain if the procedure will work.

“It’s very iffy with this animal because she’s so old,” he said. “Even if she ovulates, we don’t know if she’s going to produce good eggs. We don’t know if the male is going to like her. They’re not that different from people. They pick their mates.”

Muffin and 16-year-old Friendty will be introduced in about a month, after the hormone injections.