59-05-032 Proceeding

246 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress Treatment: September 14, 2010 - Euthanasia on October 31, 2011 (Treatment period of 48 days) Pahepo’s wound was very severe with dimension of 26 cm in width, 27 cm in length, and 19 cm in depth. His sole was completely torn apart and 2/3 of the meat was missing from his foot. He could not put the weight on his left foreleg andwould have to lie down periodically. During the treatment, many of his toe bones were exposed. He responded very well at the beginning of the treatment until the wound improved and less smell. However, since the end of October 2011, the elephant refused to lie down and rested his foot both day and night causing the injured leg becoming even more swollen (By nature, elephant is afraid to lie down and cannot get up by itself when sick). Until 6 a.m. on October 31, 2011, the condition of the elephant worsened and the care team injected the anticonvulsant and tried to push the elephant up but he could not stand up. The team also made several attempts to support him with the crane truck but he was still unable to straight his legs and put the weight on both sides of the feet. Besides the injured wound on the left foreleg, he also had another open wound on the right foreleg for over 80 percent. Finally, the decision to free Pahepo from severe pain and suffer had made. He was euthanatized and rested in peace at 3.59 p.m. on the same day. According to overall treatment, the following factors have an effect towards the treatment: 1. Elephant - Elephant’s health: If the elephant is healthy, the healing of the wound should improve. If the elephant is not healthy, the wound should heal slowly. - Age: Young elephants tend to heal faster than older elephants - Behaviors: Naturally, elephants are fierce animals and difficult to control. Therefore, the treatment may be quite difficult. However, if some elephants are kind and co-operate well with the treatment, it would make the treatment more effective. 2. Outside factors - Infection control : discontinuous treatment can result in infection and spread of wound. The past treatments results are not to reduce the cause of the problem, however, it is to take care the outcome of the problem, which is treatment of the injured elephants from stepping on the landmines. What are the actions to prevent elephants from injuring from stepping on the landmine? It is difficult to clear the international conflicts in this world, whereas landmine still occurs. How would we find peace to the world with no more landmines? Not only does it affect directly to people living around the area, but also to our fellowwildlife animals, especially elephants working in the forest. Reference Friends of the Asian Elephant (2016). Friends of the Asian Elephant. Retrieved June 2, 2016, from http://www.friendsoftheasianelephant.org/th/