ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 7, 1997 TAG: 9702070071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Washington Post
AFTER ALL SHE'S been through, one hopes she at least has a good HMO.
It's hard to imagine a worse blind date. When Muffin met Friendty last summer, he did more than reject her companionship. He tried to have her for lunch.
But there are always second chances. And when the two Komodo dragons have their next rendezvous at the National Zoo in a month or so, Muffin will be in a better position to defend herself if things go awry. This week, her keepers arranged for her to have cataract surgery so she can see well enough to follow Friendty's every move.
The National Zoo has the only zoo-breeding Komodos outside Indonesia and Australia. Muffin is on loan from Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, and zoo officials want to mate her because her offspring would diversify the gene pool.
The problem is that Friendty, 9 feet long and 130 pounds, is more than three times the size of Muffin, who is about 6 feet and 42 pounds. It's quite possible that he will try to turn her into a meal once again, said Trooper Walsh, a zoo biologist.
``He's normally pretty gentle and friendly - by dragon standards - but if for some reason he's not attracted to her, he could decide she's a better source of protein than potential mate,'' Walsh said.
If Muffin could have seen out of her right eye, she might have dodged some of the ``love nips'' she suffered during their first encounter - which would have torn an arm off a human being, Walsh said.
Komodo dragons, native to Indonesia and classified as an endangered species, are the world's largest species of lizard and can grow up to 10 feet long and 250 pounds.
Muffin's cataract surgery is believed to be the first of its kind performed on a dragon. The operation was done Wednesday by veterinary ophthalmologist Seth Koch at the South Paws Veterinary Referral Center in Springfield, Va. The zoo lacked the special equipment needed for the surgery, which took about 20 minutes.
Koch's typical patients are dogs, cats and horses, although he has been a consultant to the zoo for more than 20 years.
Muffin lay on her side on a white blanket, a tube to pump anesthetic hanging out of her mouth, as Koch examined her eye with an operating microscope before surgery.
Using a drill-like tool, Koch chopped up the lens, then cleaned it out with an aspirator.
``Wow! That went beautifully,'' the doctor said five minutes later.
Although it will be a few weeks before her eye is completely healed, Muffin already was experiencing improved vision Thursday. Her eye was clear, and she seemed to be looking around in every direction.
But her problems are not over. At 21, she is beyond the normal breeding age, and her ovaries are not functioning.
So zoo officials will inject her with hormones - in a sort of fertility treatment for lizards - in hopes of stimulating ovulation. They'll use ultrasound to monitor her ovaries to see if they're responding to the treatment. If they do, Muffin could meet Friendty in about a month.
The fertility procedure also will be a first for a Komodo, and Walsh said there is no guarantee it will work. Muffin has never produced offspring; she did produce infertile eggs while at the Ueno Zoo.
Muffin's advanced age makes her too lethargic to be a good exhibit animal, so her value in captivity at this point is breeding, zoo officials said.
In a special section of the zoo's reptile complex, veterinarian Lucy Spelman applied some ointment Thursday to Muffin's right eye. The dragon appeared to have her appetite back as she snacked on a fat, juicy rat - a good sign, her doctors said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Muffin, with what looks like a Komodo Club in herby CNBjaws, gets ready for surgery at South Paws Veterinary Referral
Center in Springfield. 2. Veterinary ophthalmologist Seth Koch,
whose typical patients are dogs, cats and horses, tries his skills
on Muffin, a Komodo dragon. color.