Staff at CSPO have stepped in to help Baby Chhouk - a 4-year old elephant at Wildlife Alliance's Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, Cambodia.
Using their skills in prosthetics, our prosthetist/orthotists have made a special artificial limb for Chhouk to help him walk. Chhouk lost 12 cms of his left leg, possibly in a snare, and was found wandering through the jungle alone. He is now being cared for by Wildlife Alliance.
CSPO staff responded to an appeal for help from Wildlife Alliance, volunteering their spare time to develop a prosthesis suitable for this rather unusual young client.
Nick Marx of Wildlife Alliance explains:
"When I first rescued Chhouk he was in a serious condition. Once we got him better, the issue was about seeing what we could do about his damaged leg. I contacted the Elephant Hospital in Thailand and other prosthetics organisations within Cambodia, but although they wished us well they said they could do nothing. It was only Cathy McConnell at CSPO who said that they were prepared to give it a shot. We may just be delaying the inevitable, who knows. But Chhouk is so much better with his prosthesis and it will definitely give him a far better quality of life for much longer."
As you can see from the film, Chhouk is very happy with his new limb, and we're delighted we could use our expertise in prosthetics to support Wildlife Alliance's work.
