Thailand's jumbo patient gets new prothesis

[Guest JoeM]

An on-going story that continues to show promise...

 

Thailand's jumbo patient gets new prothesis

 

Bangkok (dpa) - Motala, the first elephant to receive a prosthetic leg in an historic operation conducted in Thailand seven years ago, on Monday was fitted for a new foot.

 

"The original prosthesis needs to be replaced by a new one because it has gotten too hard and is causing some pain when Motala walks," said Soraida Salwala, secretary-general of the Asian Elephant Foundation, which is funding the operation.

 

Motala, a female elephant that lost her left forefoot to a landmine in neighbouring Myanmar (Burma), made medical history in 1999 when a team of Thai veterinarians fitted her with the world's first pachyderm prosthesis.

 

The operation, conducted at the Elephant Hospital in Lamphang province, 500 kilometres north of Bangkok, drew international attention to the plight of Thailand's working elephants and the efforts of the Lamphang Elephant Hospital to provide treatment for their jumbo patients.

 

Motala's wound has healed and the elephant has learned to walk on the prosthesis, at an estimated cost of one million baht (25,000 dollars) over the past seven years, said Soraida.

 

Since Motala's operation in 1999, the Elephant Hospital has treated more than 2,300 elephants for various illnesses and injuries, although Motala remains the only one to receive a prothesis.

 

"This year alone we have treated 348 elephants, of whom 50 were in-patients," said Soraida, in a telephone interview from Lamphang.

 

The hospital is largely dependent on funding from the Asian Elephant Foundation, which in turn is dependent on donations from Thai and international animal protection activists such as Brigitte Bardot, who has provided 210,000 euros (267,000 dollars) to the foundation over the past three years.

 

"Even with these donations we're are still operating at a 6 million baht (150,000 dollars) deficit this year," said Soraida.

 

Thailand is the only country where elephants, a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), is classified as a draft animal by law.

 

Domesticated pachyderms were used in ancient Siam, as Thailand was formerly called, as weapons in battles against its enemies and later for hauling logs out of the country's tropical forests.

 

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