Thai help for injured elephant
Print Edition
AFTER losing part of her foot in a snare in Thailand, baby elephant Clear Sky is learning to walk again — in water. The 6-month-old is the first elephant to receive hydrotherapy at an animal hospital in Chonburi province, a few hours from Bangkok.
The goal is to strengthen the withered muscles in her front leg, which was wounded three months ago in an animal trap laid by villagers to protect their crops.
The wrinkly pachyderm, who has tufts of jet black hair sprouting on top of her head, limps around the pool before her swim.
“This is her second time getting water therapy so she is still a bit nervous and scared of the water,” veterinarian Padet Siridumrong said as helpers clipped the animal into a harness and lowered her into the pool.
It was not all smooth sailing — Clear Sky at first latched onto zookeepers for support. But she appeared to relax by the end of the hour-long session. “Baby elephants love water,” explained Padet. “If she can do this regularly she will have fun.”
The orphaned animal was in bad shape when staff at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden took her in. Separated from her mother in the wild, she was in dire need of milk and required surgery on her lacerated foot when she was found hobbling by villagers.
Now the wound has healed, the hope is that with more swimming, she will not need an artificial leg as she matures and puts on weight.
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