@THAILAND
More than 100 elephants hauling logs on the Thai-Burmese border are in constant danger, as one step in the wrong direction could injure or even kill them.
The danger is buried underground. Countless landmines are death traps for elephants caught in the wild and trained to carry out the toughest of tasks - bringing logs out of the deep jungles on the Burmese side of the border. The landmines were laid because of the longstanding military clashes between minority rebels and the Burmese army.
But the casualties are not restricted to humans.
In the past 10 years, many elephants have been injured by landmines buried along the Thai-Burmese border in Tak's Mae Sot district.
The lure of high pay for hauling logs has exposed the elephants to this life-threatening danger. Each mahout receives 30,000-40,000 baht per elephant per month for hauling the logs. But they must find food for the elephants themselves.
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| Vets measure the artificial leg being made for Motala, a female elephant. She drew public sympathy after she was maimed by a landmine in the jungle of neighbouring Burma in 1999. Public donations of over four million baht are kept in a bank to look after her. — SOMSAK SUKSAI |
"Over the past five years, more and more elephants have been wounded by landmines," said veterinarian Preecha Puangkham, director of the medical section at the Elephant Hospital in Lampang's Hang Chat district.
One of the hospital's patients, a female named Motala, captured the hearts of the nation after its struggle for life after treading on a mine in 1999. Its leg was mutilated and a prosthetic leg was made for it.
Since the hospital was opened in 1993, it has provided treatment to 2,825 elephants, said Dr Preecha.
At present, 447 elephants have been admitted to the in-patient wards and 20 need special treatment. The out-patients number almost 400.
The hospital said most elephants were treated for wounds sustained while hauling logs. A source said medical check-ups also revealed traces of narcotics in some elephants. Some mahouts admitted they mixed methamphetamines with bananas, which they gave to the elephants so they would work longer hours.
Dr Preecha said some elephants "decommissioned" from the job of log-hauling were taken to resorts to entertain tourists.
Soraida Salwala, founder of the Friends of the Asian Elephant foundation, said the elephant population has dwindled and there are believed to be only 3,000, including in the wild, left in the country. - Somsak Suksai
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