A polar bear underwent root canal surgery to fix a 'very painful' broken tooth.
Polar Bear
The animal, named Sisu, was operated on for an hour by Dr. Peter Kertesz after keepers at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster became concerned after noticing that one of the creature's teeth was damaged.
The procedure cleared Sisu's teeth of the infected root canal to prevent an abscess from growing.
Dr. Kertesz explained that the 600kg animal will now have a "pain and infection free tooth for the rest of the life".
He said: "It was wonderful that the keepers have been so observant and attentive to the animals, and noticed this.
"I was glad we operated swiftly because a broken tooth can lead to severe infection and be very painful.
"It was a standard procedure, where we cleaned out the infected root canal of the canine tooth, which was over three inches long, and filled it.
"Sisu will now have a pain and infection free tooth for the rest of his life."