Elephant population across the globe are under threat from habitat degradation and poaching . As well as coping with mood modification which push elephants ’ hydration necessitate to the limit ( they suffer aroundtwo bathing tub fullof water a day ) , they are killed for their ivory or as trophies . Thankfully there are team of conservationists and scientists make together to protect these social and extremely intelligent animals .
noose are a self-aggrandising problem for elephants despite being intended to catch small animals . The telegram loops are the gross size for snag on the ankle joint of sister elephants , one of whom was fortunatelyrescued by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust(SWT ) last month .
“ These young , innocent baby are not necessarily the sea poker ’s intended victim : Small- to intermediate - sized snares are often set to catch animate being for bushmeat , ” articulate Executive Director for SWT Rob Brandford in an electronic mail to IFLScience . “ But these deadly traps are indiscriminate and do not discern between a young elephant or an Aepyceros melampus and will maim any brute that has the ill luck to step in them or stick their neck opening through them . ”
One such animal was Chhouk , who was just a calfskin when he was found in March 2007 in Mondulkiri , Northeast Cambodia . Having bugger off his leg hitch in a snare , the elephant was regain with the foot having already been amputated and the remain stump had become in earnest infected . An underweight and malnourished Chhouk was taken in by theWildlife AllianceandExceed Worldwideand finally nursed back to wellness .
Unfortunately , there was still nothing to be done for Chhouk ’s foot , but the squad got to work on an artificial limb that could replace it . Working from the Phnom Penh Physical Rehabilitation Centre , they established a plan with the assist of PhD research worker Sisary Kheng at the University of Salford , UK . Kheng ’s work with the Centre for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics and Orthotics establish in Cambodia is supported byThe Coles - Medlock Foundation .
“ Chhouk ’s shoe has two freestanding parts , a soft flexible inside shoe and a hard - durable outside brake shoe with a tractor tire on the bottom , ” say Kheng in a statement sent to IFLScience . " Chhouk also wears peculiar wind cone to keep chafing . Every six month he need a young horseshoe , and every time we operate together to make one . So far , Chhouk has had 17 unexampled shoes . ”
Chhouk , alongside elephant pal Lucky , are two of around 1,500 animals currently cared for at thePhnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centerwhich is bring off by the Cambodian Forestry Administration and stretch across 5,600 acres of forest . Kheng ’s work extends far beyond the shoes of this young elephant , as she has spent the retiring two decades assist people with disablement living in poorness in South East Asia to access free prosthetic and orthotic services . That her craft can be translated from humans to wildlife is just the cherry on top of an already pioneering scientific career .
As Kheng says : “ Prosthetic arm are n’t just for people ; they can be for elephants too . ”
