Terokai apa itu Ocean Park.
In celebration of World Veterinary Day today, Ocean Park Hong Kong pays tribute to its veterinary team’s world-class technical excellence and professionalism. Their expertise was recently highlighted by successfully saving a cownose ray from a rare, life-threatening condition through surgery. The ray’s stable recovery stands as a powerful testament to the team’s unwavering commitment to the optimal health of the Park’s animal ambassadors.
The challenging case took place in late March 2026, when, during a routine health examination on the approximately 20-year-old male cownose ray, the veterinary team discovered an excessive fluid build-up in his body cavity and a persistent protrusion of his spiral valve intestine. Further diagnostic tests, including ultrasound, revealed a grave internal injury: foreign objects – such as remnants of a fish head and squid tentacles – were found free within the coelom of the ray, suggesting a severe rupture of his stomach wall. A subsequent CT scan confirmed the nature and extent of the damage. Such a gastric rupture is fatal without surgical intervention.
Ocean Park’s veterinary team swiftly made the decision to proceed with complex exploratory surgery the very next day under general anaesthesia. The surgery, which lasted approximately two hours, involved carefully removing the foreign debris and painstakingly repairing the stomach perforation.
Open surgeries on elasmobranchs – including sharks and rays – presents unique and substantial challenges. These include the complexity of managing anaesthesia out of water in a fully aquatic animal, the inherent intricacies and risks of gastric surgeries, poor wound healing, and post-operative infections.
“This was truly one of the rarest cases our team has ever encountered,” said Dr Paolo Martelli, Director of Veterinary Services of Ocean Park Hong Kong. “We are not aware of any global precedents for a gastric rupture of this nature in a cownose ray receiving such an emergency and extensive surgical repair, making this a potentially pioneering achievement in marine veterinary medicine.” The ray is now stable, and the surgical wound shows no signs of complications. The team continues to monitor his recovery closely.
Ocean Park continues to be committed to the highest standards of animal care, research and conservation. The passion and expertise of its world-class veterinary and animal care teams not only ensure the well-being of the animals but also contribute vital insights to global veterinary science.
