A bear had to have its tongue removed after it became so swollen it weighed almost half a stone and dragged along the ground. 
 
 Nyan htoo and his brother were rescued as cubs by monks in Myanmar after being taken from their mother so they could be sold illegally. 
 
 However after their rescue, it soon became clear the bear was suffering from an unknown disease, which caused his tongue to become enlarged. 
 
 Vets operated on Nyan htoo in 2016 in an attempt to save his tongue by removing the excess tissue, but the swelling returned and worsened over time. 
 
 By June the disease was badly affecting Nyan htoo's quality of life, so vets reluctantly decided to amputate. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Vets remove 3kg of tongue from bear 
 
 An Edinburgh vet has helped remove the giant tongue of a bear in Myanmar. 
 
 Heather Bacon, of the University of Edinburgh's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, worked in the team which carried out the operation. 
 
 The bear - called Nyan htoo, meaning "bright" - had a tongue so large that it dragged on the ground as he walked. 
 
 Nyan htoo had been suffering from a mystery illness since he was a cub. He is said to be "recovering well" after his four-hour operation. 
 
 Image copyright The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies Image caption Nyan htoo is able to move around more freely after his operation 
 
 During the surgery, Heather and her team removed 3kg (about 7lb) of tissue from the bear's tongue. 
 
 As his tongue was so heavy, Nyan htoo often had to rest his head against his cage to support the weight. 
 
 Image copyright The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies Image caption The bear's tongue was so heavy that he had to rest against a wall to support the weight 
 
 Despite his condition, he was still able to play with his brother. 
 
 The two bears had been set to be illegally sold in China, but were rescued by monks at a monastery in Myanmar. 
 
 Image copyright The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies Image caption The brothers are now able to play without Nyan htoo's tongue being hurt 
 
 Although the disease remained a mystery for the last couple of years, the vets think it may have been caused by elephantiasis, a mosquito-transmitted infection that makes body parts swell to extreme levels. 
 
 "We have been able to make a tangible improvement in the quality of Nyan htoo's life," said Heather. 
 
 Caroline Nelson, a veterinary nurse at Animals Asia's Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre said: "This was a really unusual medical condition - never before seen in any species of bear - but we weren't about to give up on Nyan htoo."
– Cat got your tongue—or maybe a bear? No one would have pointed the finger at one particular Asiatic black bear (also known as a moon bear) holed up in a Myanmar monastery: He had too much of his own tongue to handle, let alone anyone else's. The Guardian reports on the plight of Nyan htoo, who recently underwent emergency surgery to remove 7 pounds of tissue from a tongue so large he couldn't keep it in his mouth. Instead, Nyan htoo dragged it on the floor, and the BBC reports the weight of the tongue fatigued him so much that he often had to rest his head against the side of his cage. "I've worked with bears for over 10 years and I've never seen anything like it," says Heather Bacon, a University of Edinburgh veterinarian who was part of the team that operated on Nyan htoo, whose name means "bright." She adds his malady was "pretty astonishing." Nyan htoo—who'd ended up at the monastery with his brother after they were abducted by Burmese traffickers, then rescued by monks—also couldn't close his mouth. Bacon and others heard about his condition, which they speculate was either a genetic issue or a form of elephantiasis, swelling brought about by a mosquito-carried parasite that causes infection. The Telegraph notes that vets had taken excess tissue from Nyan htoo's tongue last year, but before long the swelling came back in full force. The surgery this time around took about four hours. Per Stuff.co.nz, Nyan htoo is now playing with his brother again, though he'll have a learning curve in adapting to day-to-day tasks without his giant tongue. "We have been able to make a tangible improvement in the quality of Nyan htoo's life," Bacon says. (This bear made 200 sheep leap to their deaths.)