Herne Bay's beloved Boki the bear celebrates one year since his successful surgery

The brown bear went under the knife to treat a build-up of fluid in his brain which was causing seizures.   Meghan Shaw reports.

Transcript

00:00It isn't every day you celebrate one year after having brain surgery and Boky the bear made no

00:06bones about commemorating. It's right here where Boky the bear has lived for almost two years

00:11and thanks to life-saving brain surgery he has the chance to live many more. Young Boky who is

00:17almost four years old was the first European brown bear to undergo brain surgery after frequent

00:24seizures revealed he had a condition that filled his brain with spinal fluid. One year on

00:29he has made a miraculous full recovery and his keepers are amazed the trailblazing operation went

00:36so smoothly. This is massive for us and for Boky so this is a year on since he had pioneering brain

00:42surgery to treat his hydrocephalus and he was the first brown bear to ever be diagnosed with

00:46hydrocephalus and he was the first brown bear to ever have brain surgery so to get him recovered

00:51from all of that and to go a full year on from that is absolutely amazing and he's so he's doing so

00:56well right now he's so he's happy he's healthy he's back to himself he's climbing trees he's swimming

01:02he's playing with the other bears he's digging he's doing everything he's supposed to be. And how did

01:06he celebrate? With a cake made of sweet potatoes seeds nuts and dog biscuits which went down a treat.

01:14Boky is preparing to enter torpor a lighter form of hibernation for the second time in his short life

01:21and has gained weight in preparation all signs of a healthy bear. Boky was taken in by the Wildwood

01:27Trust after his family rejected him but quickly found a home in Kent with the two other bears that

01:33live there brothers Scruff and Fluff. Although the surgery itself was novel treating and caring for

01:40sick animals is something the Wildwood Trust is no stranger to. In fact the zoo's own vet Elliot Simpson

01:47Brown anaestheticised Boky himself. Animal Behaviour Management Officer Becky is confident about

01:54Boky's future. He is back to his usual self he's back to being cheeky active climbing his trees doing

02:00all the things he did before we're still monitoring though we're not saying it's that's it done end of

02:05we're still keeping a close eye on him but for everything that we were doing for him before he

02:10doesn't need his medication anymore. So all things going to plan there shouldn't need to be any future

02:14surgeries unless there might be a blockage with the shunt or something like that we'll keep an eye out

02:20and that will happen. The future might be uncertain for Boky but for now he seems more than happy to

02:26have his cake and eat it. Megan Shaw for KMTV in Herne Bay