Land mines maim another elephant
2001-02-09 09:51
Bangkok, Thailand - A team of veterinarians is caring for an elephant maimed by a land mine, and will soon decide whether to amputate its leg, a hospital worker said on Thursday.
The elephant's new-born calf, which was unharmed by the explosion, died after making the arduous journey to a hospital in Lampang province, more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the site of the accident, said Vikorn Maneechote of the Lampang Elephant Hospital in northern Thailand.
The 29-year-old cow, Mohe, stepped on an anti-personnel mine on February 1 while she was hunting for food with her calf in a jungle outside a logging camp where she worked, Vikorn said.
A Thai villager who owned the elephant had rented it out to work in the logging camp, just across the border in Myanmar. She had been let loose in the jungle by her keeper, or the mahout, to forage.
Vikorn said Mohe's left front leg was shredded and shows signs of infection. The mahout walked the cow and the calf back to their owner's village in Thailand's Pob Phra district, a trip that took three hours. Pob Phra is 370 kilometres (230 miles) north of Bangkok.
The next day, the elephants were trucked to the Elephant Hospital in Lampang, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) away. Vikorn said the baby elephant died in Lampang.
He said the vets at the hospital would make a decision next week about amputating, after getting X-rays.
Mohe is receiving antibiotics and painkillers and her foot is being cleaned daily. She is eating and drinking normally.
In 1999, another cow elephant, Motala, stepped on a mine and lost her left front foot. The operation to amputate was broadcast nationwide by several television networks.
Motala has recovered but is still in Lampang hospital waiting to receive an artificial foot in the next 10 months.
Motala came from the same village as Mohe. Traditionally, many of the ethnic Karen people in Tak province keep elephants for family logging businesses. But concerned by the high rate of deforestation, the Thai government made logging without a license illegal.
Many logging elephants are now taken to work in forests in Myanmar, near the rugged border. The area is littered with thousands of mines from the conflict between Myanmar rebels fighting for autonomy and the country's military government. - Sapa-AP
- SAPA