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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Kelly-Ann Mills

'Chaos' the 260kg lion gets first radiotherapy session to battle his skin cancer

A male lion with skin cancer is receiving radiation therapy at a private clinic in South Africa.

'Chaos' weighs 570lb  - or 260kg - and needed to be sedated and strapped on a trolley before being brought in to hospital by the back door.

The 16-year-old big cat was treated at a human hospital as there are no radiation facilities for animals in the country.

He was treated at the exclusive Muelmed Mediclinic by a team of five radiotherapists and an oncologist.

He needed to be sedated for the treatment (Kara Heynis)
He is having treatment for skin cancer (Kara Heynis)

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As the images show his eyes and healthy parts of his nose were covered in white bandages to protect them during the five-minute treatment.

His keeper Kara Heynis told The Times he needs to have five sessions and the treatment is expensive, but "absolutely worth it".

Chaos has lived at Lory Park animal and owl sanctuary, about 18 miles from Pretoria, since he was a few days old and was hand-reared on the property.

Chaos is 16 years old (Kara Heynis)

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The lesions were spotted a few weeks ago and a biopsy confirmed that they were cancerous, Ms Heynis said.

"He is like our child so we will do anything we need for him," she said.

Chaos is being kept in the shade in the enclosure he shares with a female while his treatment is carried out over the next month.

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