Putting a 550 pound bear down for surgery is no easy task, but when Mango, a 19-year-old Syrian brown bear started to walk awkwardly zookeepers at Isreal’s Ramat Gan Zoological Center had to do something.

Mango, who has lived at the zoo his entire life, underwent several hours of surgery at the center’s animal hospital on Wednesday after X-rays revealed that he had a herniated disc between his second and third vertebrae. Dr. Merav Shamir, a veterinarian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Mango was the largest animal she ever had to operate on.

The pictures below are from his extraordinary back surgery.

Poor (not so) little guy. Hopefully Mango will make a full recovery soon, and when he does he’ll have a cool new haircut to show his bear friends.

Source: Daily Mail

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