Elephant prosthesis proves big task

By Busaba Sivasomboon

Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand — Two years after a land mine maimed a Thai elephant, veterinarians have still not been able to fit the wounded animal with a prosthetic foot.

Motola, a logging elephant, drew worldwide attention when she underwent two surgical operations in 1999 to amputate part of her left front foot, which had been shredded by the mine.

Prosthetic specialists teamed up with the veterinarians to design and prepare an artificial foot for Motola, who would have been the first elephant ever to use one.

But two years on, doctors say her wounded leg still has not totally healed and they cannot fit her with the prosthesis.

"This is much slower than our first expectations," Terdchai Cheevaket, a top bone surgeon from nearby Chiang Mai University and chief of the surgery team, said Thursday.

Terdchai said Motola still has a wound 4 inches in diameter where her foot was amputated because the skin has stopped growing to cover the injured area. He said the 40-year-old elephant has refused to eat protein-rich food, such as beans, that would help the healing process.

The Hang Chat Elephant Hospital, where Motola has been staying, will try to improve the quality of Motola’s diet, the doctor said. The hospital is in Lampang, 315 miles north of Bangkok.

Motola stepped on a land mine while she was looking for food near a logging camp in the border area between northern Thailand and Myanmar, also called Burma. Her owner had to make the stricken elephant take a three-day trek out of the jungle before she could be bundled onto a truck and taken to the hospital.

Terdchai said Motola’s overall condition Thursday was stable and that she was in good spirits. She weighs about 3 tons, compared with less than 2.7 tons right after her operations.

Her case brought attention to the plight of Thailand’s working elephants, which number about 2,000, down from some 10,000 in the 1970s. Thais donated more than $125,000 for her treatment and to support the hospital; foreign donations also flowed in.