Modified Endoscopic Removal of Foreign Objects from the
Forestomach of a Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops
truncatus)
Kyung-Yeon Eo,
Yong-Gu Yeo and Oh-Deog
Kwon*
Seoul Zoo, Gwacheon 427-702,
Korea; *College
of Veterinary Medicine,
KyungpookNationalUniversity,
Daegu 702-701,
Korea
*Corresponding author:
odkwon@knu.ac.kr
Abstract
We report on the removal of foreign objects from
the forestomach of a 200 kg adult male common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Seoul zoo using a modified
stainless steel hook and flexible wire snare attached to a gastrointestinal
fiberoptic endoscope. The foreign bodies included a 10 × 3.5 cm plastic tube, 4
× 2.0 cm stainless steel pipe, brush, and concrete debris. Our technique using a
stainless steel wire hook and snareattached to a gastroscope can be used to remove foreign objects from the
forestomach of common bottlenose dolphins.
Key words:
Common bottlenose dolphin,
Modified endoscopy, Tursiops truncatus