Boki the bear to have pioneering surgery to drain fluid from skull and stop seizures
A young bear born to parents rescued from a Spanish circus will today undergo pioneering brain surgery.
Boki, a two-year-old European brown bear, has been suffering seizures and vision problems for the last five months.
MRI scans show he has hydrocephalus, a build up of fluid inside his skull that is putting pressure on his brain.
It’s a condition that also occurs in humans, affecting one in every 500 births. Other cases can be triggered by illness or injury later in life.
But it is believed to be rare in animals.
Specialist vets working with the Wildwood Trust, near Canterbury, where Boki lives, will insert a tube in his brain to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure.
Mark Habben, zoological director at the trust, told Sky News that Boki was “charismatic and a lot of fun” but his condition tends to flare up after bouts of high energy.
“It impedes his life,” he said.
“We want him to be able to climb up trees and jump in ponds without suffering negatively from that.”
The vet involved has only done the procedure once before. Pic: PA
The three-hour operation will be carried out by Romain Pizzi, an Edinburgh-based specialist with a reputation for taking on cases that other vets won’t touch.
He will make a small hole in Boki’s skull and run a tube from inside his brain, then under his skin down to his bladder, where it will drain the excess fluid.
The vet has carried out the procedure just once before, on an Asiatic black bear in Laos. The surgery was a success, giving the Wildwood Trust confidence it’s the right option for Boki.
Mr Habben said Boki is also in good physical condition and rapidly putting on weight.
“If we did not think this would have a happy ending, we would not put him or ourselves through the physical and emotional stress of conducting something like this,” he said.
“We are very optimistic about it.”
The condition is rarely seen in animals. Pic: PA
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Boki was born at Port Lympne wildlife park in Kent, where his parents were brought after being rescued. But he was aggressively rejected by his family and was moved to the Wildwood Trust.
The decision to go ahead with surgery was given extra urgency by Boki’s imminent torpor, a winter dormancy similar to hibernation.
“Doing it now is the right thing to do because it’s much easier to monitor him,” said Mr Habben.
“If there is any medication or aftercare he needs, I don’t want him to be asleep for four months to administer that.
“As he recovers from surgery we will be assessing him on a day-to-day basis to see when he can resume normal life of being a young bear again.”
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
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Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
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