Keepers weigh giving contact lenses to elephant

RALEIGH, N.C. – After C’sar the bull elephant lost weight, grew depressed and underwent surgery because of eye trouble, his keepers at a North Carolina zoo began to consider a pioneering move in pachyderm medicine: giving him a set of king-size contact lenses.

Officials at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro and the North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine are weighing whether the risks are worth it. C’sar’s caregivers said an elephant has never been fitted with corrective lenses, and they are unsure if they want C’sar to be the world’s first test subject.

The 12,000-pound, 38-year-old African bull elephant has been at the zoo since 1978.

Zookeepers first noticed his eyes were cloudy in 2010. He gradually lost 1,000 pounds, became lethargic and seemed depressed.

After C’sar had cataract surgeries in October and May, he perked up and started regaining weight. However, when the natural lenses from both of his eyes were removed, the animal was left farsighted.

C’sar’s eyes are a bit larger than the eyes of a horse, said Richard McMullen, assistant professor of veterinary ophthalmology at N.C. State. The lenses would need to be soft and almost three times larger than contacts fitted for a human: 38 millimeters in diameter and about half a millimeter thick.

German-based Acrivet would create the contacts if called upon.

McMullen, who performed C’sar’s two surgeries, believes corrective lenses would further improve the elephant’s well-being.

C’sar already responds well to his post-surgery eyedrops. The bull elephant’s handlers have trained him to lean his eye in between the 6-inch thick steel bars to receive the medicine. With contacts, he would need four-to-five doses daily.

Zookeepers aren’t certain how often the contacts would need to be changed. Their best guess is every three months.