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August 17, 2009

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Elephant's artificial leg does the walk

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.

 

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