A tiger at an east German zoo has had a hip replacement in a world first operation by vets from the University of Leipzig.

The eight-year-old Malayan tiger, called Girl, had been suffering from arthritis in her right hip since spring. Now she has been given a prosthetic hip of the kind first developed for dogs.

The operation was not easy. During the three-hour procedure last week, Girl's heart almost stopped, the university said in a statement, before anaesthetist Michaele Alef saved her life.

Girl is recovering in a separate enclosure back in Halle Zoo in Saxony-Anhalt, away from visitors. She is being carefully monitored for the next six weeks, when the risk of dislocation is highest.

The university says there is every chance she will take the new hip to her grave – female Malayan tigers have a life expectancy of around 20 years.

Leipzig vets said they believed their operation was the first of its kind. "I don't know of any other cases in the world where a tiger has been given an artificial hip joint," Peter Böttcher, in charge of the operation, said.

The operation is usually expensive, but Leipzig carried it out free of charge because Girl is such a rare creature.

"Malayan tigers are one of the world's most endangered species, with only around 500 estimated to be living in the wild. This was another reason to operate on Girl," the university statement said.