<\/p>\n
\nDixie the American alligator from Auckland Zoo during the procedure to put a camera put down her throat after she swallowed a jandal.
\nPhoto: Auckland Zoo\n<\/p>\n
An Auckland Zoo alligator which ate a jandal left behind in its enclosure had to undergo an hospital procedure to make sure the man-made object had passed.<\/p>\n
American alligator Dixie was seen swallowing the jandal in her habitat, Auckland Zoo said in a post on Facebook.<\/p>\n
“Although after this she continued eating well, our vet team wanted to ensure this was not going to be a longer-term health issue for her,” the social media post on Sunday said.<\/p>\n
“Alligators can consume foreign objects because they’re ‘sit and wait’ hunters.<\/p>\n
“If something moves near them, they will often automatically snap and eat it. This means that in the wild, alligators can die from ingesting man-made objects.”<\/p>\n
The zoo’s vets were joined by Dr Tommy Fluen, an external specialist experienced with endoscopy – where a thin flexible tube is passed into a patient’s body.<\/p>\n
Once Dixie was safely anaesthetised, Fluen was able to look inside her stomach using a small camera attached to the scope.<\/p>\n
“Every inch of Dixie’s stomach was examined, and thankfully a jandal was not found – however we did find a lot of half-digested meat and vegetation.<\/p>\n
“This means it is very likely the jandal was expelled previously.”<\/p>\n
While the endoscopy was taking place, the zoo’s vet team took the opportunity to check Dixie’s eyes and body condition, which were “in great shape”.<\/p>\n
“It would be amazing if Dixie never came across a man-made object in her habitat,” the Auckland Zoo post said.<\/p>\n
“Hopefully, our visitors can help us with that preventative healthcare by going home with everything that they brought to the zoo.”<\/p>\n
Head of veterinary services James Chatterton said for many people a trip to the zoo was the time they developed an interest in animals and started to care.<\/p>\n
“And that’s the first step on providing a better future for wild animals everywhere,” he said.<\/p>\n