Elephant's artificial leg does the walk
Source: Agencies |
August 17, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
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MOTOLA, an elephant who lost a foot and part of her leg when she stepped on a land mine 10 years ago, happily if tentatively stepped out yesterday after being fitted with an artificial limb.
In her first stroll with the permanent prosthesis, the 48-year-old female walked out of her enclosure for about 10 minutes, grabbed some dust with her trunk and jubilantly sprayed it in the air.
"It has gone very well - she has walked around twice," said Soraida Salwala, secretary-general of the Friends of the Asian Elephant, a private group. "She has not put her whole weight on it yet but she's OK."
Motola was injured in 1999 while working at a logging camp near the Myanmar border, a region peppered with land mines after a half-century of insurgency. Her mangled left front foot was subsequently amputated.
Motola had been wearing a temporary device for three years to strengthen her leg muscles and tendons and to prepare her for the permanent prosthesis. Soraida said Motola has been in fine health.
In her first stroll with the permanent prosthesis, the 48-year-old female walked out of her enclosure for about 10 minutes, grabbed some dust with her trunk and jubilantly sprayed it in the air.
"It has gone very well - she has walked around twice," said Soraida Salwala, secretary-general of the Friends of the Asian Elephant, a private group. "She has not put her whole weight on it yet but she's OK."
Motola was injured in 1999 while working at a logging camp near the Myanmar border, a region peppered with land mines after a half-century of insurgency. Her mangled left front foot was subsequently amputated.
Motola had been wearing a temporary device for three years to strengthen her leg muscles and tendons and to prepare her for the permanent prosthesis. Soraida said Motola has been in fine health.
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