Morning Wood

Scientists reverse vasectomy on endangered horse

For me, the news that a horse had a vasectomy was actually more shocking than the reversal.

WASHINGTON - Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo revealed Monday that they have reversed a vasectomy on an endangered horse to allow it to reproduce naturally — the first-known operation of its kind on an endangered species.

Luis Padilla, the zoo veterinarian who performed the reversal surgery in Washington, said the procedure was a first for this species and likely for any endangered species. A similar surgery was successfully performed while Padilla was a resident at the Saint Louis Zoo in 2003 on South American bush dogs, which resemble Chihuahuas. They are classified as vulnerable but not endangered.

Look, anytime someone down there you are classified as "vulnerable."

Here's a picture of the happy fellow.