Bird at National Aviary regains footing
Nine-year-old Iris did something on Tuesday she hadn't done for the past eight weeks: She stood on both legs.
Doctors said the prognosis is good for Iris, a 2-pound Hadada ibis, moments after she underwent a procedure in the National Aviary's bird hospital to remove a stainless steel pin from her right leg, which she broke a couple of months ago.
She teetered gingerly from one foot to the other while stroking her long, curved bill across a tiny, itchy line of stitches just below her right knee.
"We're totally impressed by how quickly she was up," said Dr. Pilar Fish, director of veterinary services for the aviary in the North Side.
Iris broke the leg in February during a landing in the aviary's Tropical Rainforest exhibit. At that time, a 3 1/2-inch pin was implanted in her leg to restrict her movement and allow the hollow bone to heal.
"Animals, like people, break bones. But this was a bad one," Fish said. "Had it happened to her in the wild, there would have been zero chance she would have survived."
Officials for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which tracks the conservation status of species, say populations of Hadada ibis appear to be increasing despite farming and extended periods of drought in its native habitat of sub-Saharan Africa. Iris is one of five such birds housed at the aviary.
The 73-minute procedure to remove the rod was tedious.
Fish and two lab technicians held Iris down on an operating table until she was fitted with an anesthesia mask. She breathed through a tube while she was anesthetized.
Scar tissue had developed around one part of the pin, requiring Fish to make more cuts to remove it.
Minutes after surgery, Iris was placed into a temperature-controlled cage small enough to keep her from flying. She could be seen standing in the cage on both legs -- a sign, Fish said, that the leg responded well to the treatment.
Iris will have to undergo about six weeks of therapy to strengthen her leg and improve her motion, Fish said, which involves technicians exercising the limb by hand.
When she is strong enough, Iris will be moved to larger quarters, where she eventually will fly and land again.
The aviary's hospital was established eight years ago and is staffed with one veterinarian and four technicians. It has facilities for surgeries and intensive-care treatment and is home to a preventive medicine program through which birds are vaccinated and screened to prevent common illnesses.
