Aging kangaroo to get cryotherapy treatment for arthritis

By Associated Press

Published: March 12, 2018, 10:47am

A kangaroo named Dave. The aging kangaroo who calls the Bronx Zoo in New York home is receiving low-temperature cryotherapy treatment for arthritis. The treatment is a high-tech alternative to ice baths that humans have used for years. Zoo director Jim Breheny says that the nearly 15-year-old marsupial is getting up there and his stiff joints are aching. (Animal Planet Network via AP)

NEW YORK — An aging kangaroo who calls the Bronx Zoo home is receiving cryotherapy treatment for arthritis.

The treatment is a high-tech alternative to ice baths that humans have used for years.

Zoo director Jim Breheny tells the Daily News that the nearly 15-year-old marsupial named Dave is getting up there and his stiff joints are aching.

Breheny says the treatment might sound exotic but that it’s really just one course of healing the 200 medical experts at the zoo in New York City utilize to treat some 7,000 different species.

Dave’s saga with localized cryotherapy treatment will be documented by Animal Planet’s latest season of “The Zoo.”

Cryotherapy has become commercially popular in recent years. Some Manhattan facilities charge humans as much as $90 for a three-minute session.

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