A six-month-old baby elephant injured herself badly after stepping into a trap laid by farmers in Thailand to protect their crops.
The poor baby was found hobbling and alone after being separated from her mother.
The five-month-old baby elephant took a tentative dip in a swimming pool in Thailand on Thursday, January 5th as part of a lengthy rehabilitation process to heal her injured foot.
Baby Fah Jam’s (Clear Sky) front left leg was caught in a trap set by villagers in Chanthaburi, 155 miles southeast of the Thai capital Bangkok, in November.
Clear Sky was then looked after Pattaya’s Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, a private own tourist attraction outside Bangkok. There, other elephants were able to nurse her and help her survive.
But though the wound and her health improved significantly, she refused to put any weight on her injured leg.
Veterinarian Padet Siridumrong said Clear Sky was now showing signs of improvement following a second round of water-based exercises known as hydrotherapy.
“By her fourth or fifth sessions she will enjoy swimming more. She’s just a baby elephant, that’s why she’s a bit scared at first but, by nature, elephants love the water,” Padet said.
The treatment, which hopes to ensure she doesn’t have to rely on a prosthetic leg, could take up to two months, he added.
There are some 3,700 elephants left in the wild in Thailand and up to 4,000 domesticated elephants, according to EleAid, a U.K.-based organization that works for the conservation of the Asian elephant.
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