Help arrives: Dr Njoroge and members of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust operate on 11-year-old Sienna in the middle of the Masai Mara region

A lioness whose leg was almost ripped off when a male buffalo gored her has made an incredible recovery thanks to emergency vets who flew out to treat her horrific wound.
The team of vets scrambled to the middle of the Masai Mara Nature Reserve in Kenya when they heard about 11-year-old lioness Siena’s life-threatening injuries.
Staff at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust – a specialist elephant rehabilitation centre – knew they would have to act quickly if they were to save the mother when they found her on April 4.
Dr Njoroge from the Kenyan Wildlife Trust was flown from Nairobi to the nature reserve where the injured lioness stood with her cubs.

After she was tranquilised the team spent around three and a half hours cleaning up and stitching Siena’s huge gaping wound before she was able to be returned to her cubs.
A spokesman for the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust said: ‘At around 9am a call was received from Governor’s Camp in the Masai Mara reserve about an 11-year-old lioness named Sienna who was injured on her left lower flank by the horn of a buffalo bull.

Precaution: The lioness’s head is covered with a blanket as vets perform the emergency procedure

‘The DSWT immediately deployed a Kenyan Wildlife Service vet Dr Njoroge from Nairobi and organized an aircraft for him to the Mara.
‘Treatment started at 3.50pm after the lioness was successfully darted. The wound was extensive and involved damage to the soft tissue and skin.
‘The vet cleansed the wound using normal saline and then sultured it. Siena’s treatment took approximately one and a half hours and was a great success – she was able to rejoin her pride.
‘With all teams working effectively and efficiently together the life of Siena and her cubs was saved.’


Mother’s pride: Siena rejoins her cubs on the plains of the Masai Mara