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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070516/ap_on_fe_st/odd_malaysia_orangutan_surgery

Orangutan undergoes cataract surgery

Wed May 16, 7:35 AM ET

An orangutan is expected to have improved vision after successfully
undergoing cataract surgery Wednesday, the world's first ever such
operation on a great ape, a wildlife official said.

The 19-year-old orangutan named Aman is gradually recovering after the
two-and-a-half-hour surgery on both his eyes at the Matang Wildlife
Center in Sarawak state on Borneo island, said Sarawak Forestry
spokesman Zulkifli Baba Noor.

The operation was performed by animal ophthalmologist Izak Venter and
anesthetist Frik Stegman, both from South Africa, and assisted by
local veterinarian S. Amilan, he told The Associated Press.

Aman has been suffering from decreasing vision due to severe cataracts
since 2000, he said.

The orangutan is expected to be able to see again although he may not
completely regain his vision, Zulkifli said.

Cataract surgery had been performed on other animals such as dogs but
never before on an orangutan, he said.

Aman, who weighs around 330 pounds, could live up to 45 years old, he added.

Aman was rescued from a market in Sarawak in 1989 and brought to an
animal sanctuary before being transferred to the Matang center in
2000.