A tiger tragically blinded by incessant camera flashes has been given a new lease on life after vets sewed his eyelids closed. Firmin , who was virtually sightless upon arriving at La Taniere Zoo Refuge in 2019, had lived an existence as a show animal in Spain before being saved with his sister, Pam. The relentless exposure to camera flashes from tourists had robbed him of nearly all his vision, which only worsened after his arrival in France, leading to the necessity for enucleation, or the removal of an eye, reports 20 Minutes.
Patrick Violas, co-founder of the zoo refuge, lamented: "When he arrived, Firmin was already 95% blind. He was very thin because, obviously, these animals there, when they are only used to make money, not many people take care of them." The beleaguered tiger first went under the knife in 2021, but subsequent complications including "perforating ulcers in one of the eyes" and glaucoma development were reported by Patrick.
A second surgery was scheduled for January 15th, where veterinarian Laurent Bouhanna concluded that the most compassionate option to spare Firmin further agony was to remove his eyes and stitch the eyelids closed, reports the Mirror . Firmin, who was involved in photoshoots when he was young and is reportedly accustomed to being blind after being used for the purposes of entertainment, underwent the procedure to address the risk of infection. In other news, a UK zoo has ramped up its security measures after a spate of break-ins at it.
