Aired (September 3, 2023): Doc Nielsen Donato pays a visit to a saltwater crocodile residing in a rescue facility in Davao, which has been battling an illness. Can Doc Nielsen alleviate the pain it's been enduring? Find out by watching this video.
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00:00 Today, this zoo and rescue facility in Davao City was closed
00:07 to provide a safe and important mission.
00:12 1, 2, 3, up!
00:24 1, 2, 3!
00:29 I admit that there is a pressure in operating a huge crocodile like this.
00:51 In this well-known zoo and park in Davao City, lives Pangil, an 80-year-old saltwater crocodile.
01:00 Pangil is a main attraction of Davao Crocodile Park, which is around 16 feet.
01:08 Pangil is the oldest and biggest crocodile in the park.
01:14 In fact, he has his own cage.
01:19 Pangil was brought here to the zoo back in the early 1990s.
01:25 He was brought to us from Agusan with a gunshot wound on his right rear, close to his tail.
01:36 Pangil was just a child when he experienced a man's cruelty.
01:44 We treated him, there was no way of bringing him back to the wild because there's already a community there.
01:51 But in 2020, Pangil faced a new challenge.
02:00 Unfortunately, Pangil has a lesion on his left toe.
02:08 From a small wound on his toe, it grew and became a tumor.
02:14 It was just a small wound.
02:16 The management was just wound management.
02:21 One year later, in 2021, it became a small ping pong ball, the tumor was too big.
02:28 So we got a sample for biopsy.
02:31 Pangil was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.
02:38 His toe was 1.5 kg.
02:43 It's possible that the cancer developed because of his age.
02:47 We have no choice but to operate and amputate that area.
02:55 [Music]
03:02 I noticed that Pangil moved slowly because of his age.
03:06 The weight of the ball that he was carrying increased.
03:11 He's also irritated with his hind leg.
03:14 Every now and then, he moves.
03:16 Because of this, a task force was formed for Pangil's operation.
03:24 It was formed by 20 people, including veterinarians, vet assistants, and caretakers.
03:32 We couldn't just put Pangil to sleep.
03:40 Choosing the right type of anesthetic because our fear is that we might be able to remove the tumor successfully.
03:50 But we might not wake up later.
03:53 We computed the dose and we used the lower dose.
03:56 We divided the dose and we gradually gave sedatives and tranquilizers.
04:03 [Music]
04:09 We're going to the muscular part, behind the thigh.
04:13 [Music]
04:17 Okay, good. It went in. Nice one.
04:21 [Music]
04:25 While preparing Pangil for the operation, the longest caretaker of Pangil, Ray, was watching over him.
04:33 I was with my father. We worked together.
04:39 Now, my father is no longer with us because he's retired.
04:43 Now, I'm taking care of him.
04:45 Pangil is now close to me. We're like brothers.
04:50 [Music]
04:51 And like real brothers, Ray was affected when he found out that Pangil was sick.
04:57 How did you feel? Were you nervous that you were going to do something?
05:01 I was really nervous.
05:04 You were worried.
05:06 Don't worry. We'll do our best to get him treated and get him back to normal.
05:15 [Music]
05:19 The first thing we'll do is to give him sedatives.
05:23 But first, we need to get the water level down.
05:27 Then, we'll push him here in the squeeze cage that will protect the animal and the handler.
05:36 [Music]
05:38 Once the sedatives we gave him were effective,
05:42 [Music]
05:44 we need to put Pangil in the squeeze cage.
05:48 [Music]
05:49 [Grunts]
05:51 One, two, three, best!
05:53 [Grunts]
05:55 I was surprised because his small mass turned into a cauliflower that ate up Pangil's entire finger.
06:08 And that will be involving even the bones.
06:13 When I saw it, not only one digit was affected, but three digits were affected.
06:21 It's possible that Pangil's cancer will return if the other affected digits or fingers are not cut.
06:29 If we need to open it like that, remove the digit.
06:33 Then, close it.
06:35 We're slowly reducing the toe, seeing how deep the tumor went.
06:41 At first, when I was removing those toes, it was hard to remove the bone.
06:45 So, I needed to use an oscillating saw to cut the phalanges, the digits of the feet.
06:55 [Music]
06:57 After more than three hours, the heavy weight that Pangil was carrying was removed.
07:07 Finally, we completed the procedure for Pangil.
07:11 I really had a hard time with my team, Doc Bayani.
07:15 Things became much more manageable.
07:18 But this is not the end of Pangil's trial.
07:22 The post-op care, I think, will be one of the most difficult tasks of Team Pangil.
07:32 Because, for now, it looks like we closed his wound well.
07:37 But, of course, once Pangil is moving, the stump that we left can open.
07:47 The antibiotics that he will be given, the pain medications,
07:51 how to prevent flies that will be attracted in that wound area.
07:57 [Music]
07:59 [Music]
08:00 For now, Pangil is active again.
08:09 But his health is still being monitored closely.
08:13 It's not every day, it's not every year that you get to experience
08:18 in treating a large crocodile, a very old crocodile like this.
08:27 It's not every day that you see crocodiles in the wild also develop tumors like this.
08:31 [Music]
08:33 Pangil is the center of attraction in this facility.
08:37 In the wild, his breed is always a threat.
08:41 We should learn to respect them.
08:45 That is also what Pangil wants from people.
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