Zoo Gives Tasmanian Devil a Pacemaker in Second Such Surgery in History

SAN DIEGO, CA: The second surgery of its type ever performed on a Tasmanian devil has been deemed a success by veterinarians with San Diego Zoo Global.

Nick, one of four Tasmanian devils who live at the San Diego Zoo, has recovered from having a pacemaker surgically implanted in his heart and was released Wednesday morning back into his exhibit at the Conrad Prebys Australian Outback, according to park officials.

It was discovered in January while performing a routine health examination of Nick that he had an abnormal heart rhythm. Further tests determined that he had heart disease, which was causing his heart to beat very slowly.

Zoo veterinarians then consulted with cardiologist Joao Orvalho, DVM — a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, from the University of California, Davis — and determined the best way to improve the quality of Nick’s life was to surgically implant a pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat.

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On May 11, Cora Singleton, DVM, San Diego Zoo associate veterinarian, and her staff worked collaboratively with veterinary surgeon Fred Pike, DVM, a Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons, and his staff from Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Diego, to place a transdiaphragmatic pacemaker (an impulse-generating device in the abdomen, and electrode sutured to the heart) in Nick.

The procedure was successful, with no complications. Nick was released the same day, and returned home to the Zoo hospital to recuperate before spending the last two weeks in an off-exhibit bedroom area.

"We are optimistic that this procedure will give Nick an additional one to two years of a happy and healthy life," Singleton said. "He will have a recheck exam to evaluate his pacemaker in three to six months, then annually thereafter."

An endangered species native to the island of Tasmania in Australia, Tasmanian devils face extinction in the wild from a facial cancer transmitted through biting one another, a common behavior when mating and feeding. The disease kills all infected devils within six to 12 months, and there is no known cure or vaccine. The four Tasmanian devils at the San Diego Zoo are free of this disease, according to park officials.

In a related story, Zoo officials announced last month that a genetic discovery in the animals' native Tasmania has given new hope for the species' survival.

(Accompanying photo of Nick the Tasmanian devil taken by Ken Bohn on May 31, 2016 at San Diego Zoo Safari Park)