Blast shreds foot of Thai elephant, 13th land mine blast victim

Mae Ka Pae has become the 13th mine casualty to be treated in northern Thailand. A week ago a mine exploded shredding her left rear foot. Thai Veterinarian's have been successful in making prosthetic legs for elephant victims of abandoned land mines.

Veterinarians are treating the latest land mine victim from the Thai-Myanmar border Thursday, a 22-year-old female elephant. The elephant foot was partially blown off when a landmine exploded as she worked in the jungles of Thailand.

Mae Ka Pae is now under the care of Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital near this city in northern Thailand. The elephant hospital has been operating since 1993 and have been successful in making and attaching artificial limbs for elephants wounded by the deadly mines that are spread across the country. She arrived at the facility Wednesday evening, a week after the accident, with a left rear foot that was shredded by an explosion.



Mae Ka Pae will join other recovering elephants at the hospital including Motala and Mosha. In 2007 Mosha became the world's first elephant with an artificial leg. Both elephants have had success with a special-made prosthesis.