Thai Elephant Landmine Victim Fitted With Temporary Prosthetic Foot

FLORA AND FAUNA

A Thai elephant, Motala, walks using the help of a prosthesis at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang northern of Thailand, 28 August 2005. The 44-year-old female was injured in 1999 while working at a logging camp near the border with Myanmar. Motala underwent surgery on 28 August that year at the Elephant hospital in Lampang and has been forced to hobble on three legs since. AFP photo/Str

Bangkok (AFP) Aug 29, 2005
Thailand's most famous elephant, a landmine victim called Motala, has been given a temporary prosthetic foot to prepare her for having a permanent limb fitted in several months, her carers said on Monday.

The 44-year-old female, who was injured in 1999 while working at a logging camp on the Thailand-Myanmar border, had to have her mutilated front left foot amputated and has been forced to hobble along on three legs.

Motala was fitted with her "pre-prosthesis" on August 10 and will wear the 10 kilogram (22 pound) shoe-like device which contains sawdust and cushions for up to six hours a day for the next five to eight months.

"She has not had any reaction to the pre-prosthesis," Soraida Salwala from Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation which cares for Motala, told AFP.

The temporary prosthesis, a green canvas sack much like a punchbag which is kept in place by a sling around the elephant's shoulders, will be replaced with a more durable one next year, she added.

Motala has been recovering at an elephant hospital at Lampang in northwestern Thailand, which is also home to other landmine victims and elephants injured in other industrial accidents including treading on nails.

Motala was working hauling logs inside the Myanmar border when the accident happened in August 1999. She trod on a mine, a legacy of the decades of conflict there, after being released by her Thai owner to forage for food.

Thais, who revere elephants as a national symbol, monitored Motala's progress through regular televised medical reports and donated millions of baht for her recovery despite the kingdom's worst recession on record.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Kenya's Massive Elephant Transfer Underway As First Group Is Shifted

Shimba, Kenya (AFP) Aug 26, 2005
A first family of five elephants was relocated Friday from this overcrowded reserve in Kenya's coastal region, a day after a similar exercise was called off half way through because of bad weather, officials said.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.