Monkey business leads to medical emergency for Mario, S’pore Zoo’s resident komodo dragon

SINGAPORE - A komodo dragon at the Singapore Zoo recently found itself at the centre of an unusual veterinary emergency after mistaking plush toys for prey.

In a video posted on Instagram on March 2, the Mandai Wildlife Group shared how the drama unfolded after a few macaques stumbled upon a sealed bag containing plushies.

Dr Heng Yirui, deputy vice-president of veterinary healthcare and scientific programmes, said the mischievous macaques had torn the bag open and hurled the toys all over the enclosure.

The commotion caught the attention of Mario, one of the zoo’s komodo dragons. Mario is the first of its kind to be successfully hatched in Asia outside of Indonesia.

“Komodo dragons are ambush hunters, and the fact that there were lots of activity and lots of movement in the den piqued his interest and he instinctively went for these toys,” said Dr Heng.

Mario then swallowed several of the plush toys whole.

While komodo dragons can sometimes regurgitate items that do not sit well with them, this did not happen with Mario over the next 24 hours.

That raised concerns among the veterinary team, as the toys could cause a dangerous intestinal blockage, leading to a life-threatening emergency.

The Instagram video shows the team first attempting a minimally invasive approach by inserting a gastroscope into Mario’s stomach to retrieve the toys.

Despite persistent efforts, they managed to pull out only bits of thread.

After about 90 minutes of tugging, Dr Heng said there was little choice left but for him to insert his hand into Mario’s stomach.

“Trust me, it is difficult to grab onto these toys with all your might. I could only manage to pull out the first toy. I was so fatigued I had to ask for help for the second toy,” he said.

In the end, two plush toys were successfully retrieved, sparing Mario from surgery.

The next day, Mario passed faeces normally – a welcome and reassuring development for the team, as this meant that there was no intestinal obstruction.

The group’s Instagram video garnered at least 1,500 likes within an hour of being posted, with some users expressing their relief that Mario was unharmed.

User the_fatcat_cook said: “Oh poor Mario. Glad he’s ok.”

Another user, hideyah, commented: “For the first time, it wasn’t the humans that caused trouble. Hahahah!”

Calling it one of the most peculiar scenarios that his team has had to deal with, Dr Heng said that it is also a reminder of the need to coexist with Singapore’s wildlife.

He said: “Knowing that the macaques call Mandai home too, and that we really share the same space with them, drives the importance of us learning how to coexist with our local wildlife.”