Elephant mine victim treated
2010-08-05 21:16
Lampang - Veterinarians were treating the latest land mine victim from the embattled Thai-Myanmar border on Thursday, a 22-year-old female elephant whose foot was blown off by the explosion.
Mae Ka Pae, as she is called, is the 13th mine casualty at the innovative Friends of Asian Elephant hospital near this city in northern Thailand.
"We have now monitored her condition for 48 hours after we cleaned the wound and injected pain killers. We will give her a tetanus shot later today. Overall, she is a good condition. She is obedient and can eat normally," said Dr Preecha Phuangkam, a veterinarian and the hospital director.
The elephant was injured last week at the frontier, which is strewn with land mines from fighting between the Myanmar government and ethnic minority rebels.
She joins two other elephants, Motala and Mosha, who remain hospitalised but have recovered well enough to wear prosthetic legs. Mosha became the world's first elephant with an artificial leg, attached in 2007.
Traditionally the truck, taxi and logging worker of Thailand, the elephant has lost most of its jobs to modernisation.
However, the tourism industry still employs large numbers of elephants for trekking and other activities. Some, including a number along the Myanmar border, are still used in illegal logging operations.
- AP