Operation Wild

This three-part PBS/BBC series follows dedicated volunteers, doctors, and villagers struggling to bring rare and endangered animals back from the brink of extinction. In China, giant pandas now number only about 1,600 in the wild. Sadly, when a panda mother gives birth, she usually selects the baby most likely to survive, nurturing it while leaving another infant to die. Here, specialists formulate an intricate and risky plan to switch babies on an alternating basis, increasing the odds that both will survive if the mother is fooled into caring for them. Medical crises sometimes occur due to thoughtless or cruel behavior on the part of humans: a white rhino not only loses her tusk to poachers, but part of her face is also hacked off, while an elephant in Laos is shot in the leg by villagers (requiring an operation that must be performed in the wild without the benefit of sterile surgical instruments). Many procedures present unique challenges (the extreme weight of elephants and rhinos, for instance, mean that internal organs could be crushed while animals are motionless under sedation), while different sizes and shapes bring their own challenges, most notably when a giant Galapagos turtle requires surgery, but its enormous shell proves to be a formidable obstacle. Some animals have health issues all too familiar to humans (chimps in zoos are plagued by stress and heart disease, requiring regular monitoring, and sometimes intervention), but the goal in many cases is to return treated animals to the wild whenever possible, or as in the case of a lowland gorilla with a deformed limb or a dolphin needing a prosthetic tail, at least allow the animals to live a normal life with an ability to socialize and compete with other members of their species. Presenting interesting animal stories—about elephant dentistry, a cataract operation on an orangutan, a nosebleed plaguing a rare tiger in a zoo—this inspiring series is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)