Tuesday, August 18, 2009

One giant step for jumbo: Amputee elephant Motola is fitted with state-of-the-art artificial leg

Motola the elephant shows off her prosthetic leg
Leg up: Motala, 48, has been fitted with a prosthetic limb after her leg was blown off by a landmine
 
By Daily Mail Reporter

One small step for Motola the elephant, a giant leap for the world's injured animals.

Motola lost her foot and most of her left leg when she walked over a landmine ten years ago.

But yesterday, she stepped out happily - if a little tentatively - after being fitted with a state-of-the-art artificial limb.

In her first stroll with the prosthesis, 48-year-old Motola walked out of her enclosure for a few minutes, grabbed some dust with her trunk and jubilantly sprayed it in the air.

'It has gone very well - she has walked around twice,' said Soraida Salwala, founder of the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation in Thailand.

'She has not put her whole weight on it yet, but she's OK.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1206967/One-giant-step-jumbo-Amputee-elephant-Motola-fitted-state-art-artificial-leg.html#ixzz0OYHb9aR1
 

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