North Carolina zoo elephant may get contacts

(AP)

Officials at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro and the North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine are considering giving an elephant at the zoo contact lenses after he had a second cataract surgery in six months earlier in June.

The 38-year-old African bull elephant, C’sar, weighs 12,000 pounds and has been at the zoo since 1978.

Now officials are considering whether contact lenses would help C’sar’s vision even more.

Zookeepers say C’sar had become lethargic because he couldn’t see well and officials had worried they might have to euthanize him. But he improved greatly after the first cataract surgery, encouraging the veterinarians to consider further procedures.