Elephant Gets Prosthetic Leg
Updated : Mar 10, 2009
Meet Mosha, the first elephant to be fitted with a prosthetic leg.
Mosha was just seven months old when her leg was blown off when she stepped on a landmine.
She was close to death when she was taken in by the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital (FAE) in Lampang, Thailand, in 2007.
Vets feared the worst as she stumbled around on three legs and refused to eat. But her life was saved by Dr Therdchai Jivacate, who runs Thailand’s Prostheses Foundation for humans. The kind-hearted doctor decided to fit Mosha with a fake leg.
Along with his team at the foundation, Dr Jivacate successfully fitted Mosha, now three, with the limb, which is crafted from plastic, sawdust and metal. The lucky elephant now lives at an orphanage for elephants in the tropical jungle of northern Thailand, near the Cambodian border and is doing very well. She is eating so much nowadays that she has had to have a larger limb fitted to support her bulkier frame!
FAE staff member Soraida Salwala said: “Mosha should live many long, happy, elephant years. She has grown in confidence and now likes to play with the others.â€
VeryHappyPig says ahhhhhh, how sweet!
