Lioness Pang Pang lay still during her cataract eye operation Wednesday at Jiangnan Park, in the city of Jilin of northeast China's Jilin Province.

Three-year-old Pang Pang and her twin sister Bao Bao, were born with severe cataracts causing blindness. The operation lasted one and a half hours and Zhang Yankui, chief surgeon, said Pang Pang could recover in a week, after which sister Bao Bao will be given 20/20 vision. The operating theater, built near the lions' cage, had to be sterilized and cleaned of dust to ensure success, said Zhang.

(China Daily March 24, 2005)