Скачать или смотреть Elephant Amputee Fitted with a Prosthetic Leg

This is Mosha - the first elephant in the world to have a prosthetic leg made for her. This was done after she lost her leg to a landmine on Thailand’s border with Myanmar when she was just 7 months old.

She was attempting to compensate without the use of her limb by raising her trunk and leaning on other structures for support. It was obvious that this would become increasingly difficult as she grew.

She was admitted to the world’s first hospital for elephants – the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation. When looking for a solution to Mosha’s problem, there were a few things that needed to be taken into account. Firstly, Asian elephants can live well beyond 40 years in the wild, and Mosha was just at the start of her young life. Additionally, while euthanasia for such an injury may be considered as an option in many places around the world, in Thailand where a large percentage of the population follows Buddhism, it is not so readily discussed or practiced.

So, with assistance from orthopaedic surgeon Doctor Jivacate, the team at the FAE decided to design and build a prosthetic leg to support Mosha throughout her life, with the first version of this leg weighing 15 kilograms and being made from a combination of plastic, sawdust and metal.

Since that time, Mosha has received no fewer than ten prosthetic legs, the design adjusted and improved each time to support her needs as she grows. Today the prosthesis has evolved into a more sophisticated version of the first – as you can see here! – and is now constructed from an individual mold using thermoplastic, steel and elastomer.

This is how Mosha’s leg is fitted every morning. Rather than keeping the prosthetic on around the clock, the prostheses are removed at night and re-fitted each morning. To do this, the leg is first coated in talcum power as you can see here, before a protective sock is applied. Then, the padded prosthetic is fitted to the site, adjusted and tightened with a ratchet system. And, just like that, they’re ready to go!

The FAE now has an entire prosthetics factory on site where they help other animals like Mosha, and it was nothing short of a privilege to collaborate on her case with them.

For more on her case, please see my Instagram @jungle_doctor

#elephant #veterinarian #prosthetic #medical #medicaltechnology #thailand #goodnews #goodvibes #goodnewstoday #wildlife #wildliferescue #wildlifeconservation #veterinary #elephants #3dtechnology #3dprinting #3dprinter #saveanimals #vettech