Support an Endangered Species

Hospital entrance with crane

The elephant hospital and mobile clinic run by the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC) are fantastic resources that provide medical care to elephants absolutely free. The hospital at the TECC has five qualified veterinarians who work at the hospital every day 8.00am until 5.00pm and are also on call 24 hours a day. At any one time there are 50 -80 sick elephants under treatment at the hospital.

In addition to treating all elephants, whether wild or privately owned, free of charge, the hospital also provides education to people who have an interest in elephant health and encourages students to commit to elephant husbandry.

The mobile clinic provides treatment for injured and sick elephants free of charge throughout the rest of Thailand. In urban areas where all too often the owners of the elephants do not understand proper elephant care, the vets provide consultation and education in elephant welfare and even provide a first aid box specially for elephant care. The mobile clinic treats on average 450 elephants a year, which is somewhere around 10 - 15% each year of the entire population in the kingdom.

Typical Examples of Elephants Currently Under Care at TECC

Here are a few typical cases of elephants currently under care.

1. 

   Elephant Krungsee

   Krungsee, a female elephant, privately owned from Tak Province, has been in hospital the longest period, since January 1999. She is recovering slowly after treading on a landmine that blew off the foot from her right foreleg. She was walking near the Thai-Burmese border at the time, an area that is frequently mined and which cause similar injuries to many elephants, as well as killing and maiming humans of course.
2. 

   Elephant Zrai

   Zrai is a male elephant from nearby Lampang and he has also been at the hospital permanently since 1999. Zrai has now been donated by his owner to the TECC and when he is fully recovered he will join the other 50 healthy elephants that are being well taken care of at the Center. He may even become an artist. His condition involves serious infection to his right tusk, something that his owner could not possibly attend to without constant, expert veterinarian help.
3. 

   Elephant Tui

   Tui is a male elephant who was rescued from the streets of Bangkok and brought to the hospital by his owner in June 2005. Tui, like hundreds of other elephants that walk the streets of cities in search of food and cash for their owners, is in bad shape and his prognosis is simply “poor condition”. Elephants like Tui require a lot of TLC (tender loving care), to be cared for in a stress free environment and given proper nutrition as well as medication for a range of illnesses including serious stress.
4. 

   Elephant Kongtong

   Kongtong is a privately owned male elephant from Phrae province who has been treated at the hospital since January 2005 when he was brought in after being shot in the leg by villagers who were afraid of him during his musth period. He has a huge abscess on his lower leg where the bullet was extracted and is in a serious condition as the abscess cannot be cut away without risking bleeding to death. Musth is a natural phenomenon caused by a surge in reproductive hormones and can last for months in some males. During musth the male will become aggressive, difficult to manage and dangerous. To safely deal with musth, the mahout should tether the elephant in an isolated place with sufficient food and water and avoid making it work hard. Sadly the condition and these precautions are not fully understood by some owners and tragedies can occur.

Your Generosity Can Really Help

These four cases are typical of the problems that elephants face and which need to be cared for. The hospital provides services completely free and relies on donations. It never has enough money to care for all the sick elephants in need. If you are feeling generous and would like to help financially, you can make a donation through this website and we will ensure that every penny of the money you give will be used for the purpose intended.

Current Most Pressing Needs

Here are the current pressing needs:

1. The most sought after facility is a simple ‘nursery’ building that is needed to house pregnant elephants who need to give birth in hospital. The building, adjacent to the main hospital facility, will cost $25,000 and will help the vets enormously in their task of caring for pregnant elephants and saving their precious offspring.
2. A surgery ‘bed’ for a sick elephant costs $2,000 to build. The beds are highly specialised devices that are designed personally by acting Head Veterinarian Taweepoke Angkawanish. As Khun Taweepoke puts it “One of these beds can save a life in itself, by providing the right support for the sick elephant during surgery as well as making access for the surgeon so much easier”. Two beds are needed, one for the hospital and another one for emergency use outside on location.
3. Two oxygen generators and oxygen tanks are required to help treat sick elephants in severe cases. The price is $2,500 per set. One set of this equipment is needed for emergencies in hospital. Another is required for use in the field. It is particularly vital in the emergency treatment of baby elephants. So often the sad case is that nobody knows that the baby elephant is sick (because they have insufficient knowledge about diagnosis). When the elephant collapses the vet is called but it is often too late at this stage. With this simple equipment the vet can extend the baby’s life for more than 3 days, which can be enough to give her the correct attention and to save her life. Right now the vets have to beg and borrow this equipment from a human hospital if they are lucky enough to find one nearby.
4. An unspecified amount is required to start the funding of a “Mahout Training Programme” which will be conducted by one of the vets from the hospital when they travel in the mobile elephant clinic. The objective is to train the mahouts who work within elephant tourist camps and logging camps and also the staff in the many national parks and wildlife sanctuaries where elephants still roam wild. This is two year project all around Thailand. This programme has the potential to save hundreds of elephant lives a year because armed with some basic medical knowledge and diagnostic skills, mahouts and others involved in the care of elephants will be able to spot and apply basic treatment before a condition becomes serious and to call for outside help in a timely manner.
5. 

   Good Quality Medical Harness Required

   A specially made chest harness that can be used when hoisting the sick elephant. The hospital already has a large mechanical hoist, but the harnesses used are not medical quality and can injure the elephant. The current nylon harnesses are actually meant for support during log dragging and not for lifting the elephant and holding her weight. The photographs here show the chest harness in use (for log pulling) and the type of harness needed. A small harness is required for hoisting baby elephants and a much larger one for adults. A good quality medical harness made from natural materials that do not hurt the skin costs $100 each.
6. 

   Acting Head Vet Taweepoke Angkawanish

   A basic medicine kit costs $140 and contains essential medicines for antibiotic, antiseptic, anti-parasite (external and internal), eye medicine, syringes and needles. A constant supply of these medicines is required and funding is insufficient to keep up with demand. The photograph shows the basic medicine kit contents. This photo is taken in the small hospital pharmacy at the Center.

Summary

In summary we are asking for donations towards the following and if you choose to make a donation you may specify which project you would like your donation to go to.

Project #1 - Nursery building. Cost $25,000.
Project #2 - Surgery beds. Cost $2,000 each.
Project #3 - Oxygen generator and tanks. Cost $2,500 per set.
Project #4 - Mahout Training Programme. Open amounts.
Project #5 - Medical harnesses. Cost $100 each.
Project #6 - Basic medicine kits. Cost $140 each.

Make a Donation

Donations can be made online by credit card through a secure server, or by bank transfer. To make a donation please contact me, Aum-Mon Weesatchanam, and I will send you details regarding how you can make your donation.

Published In: Support an Endangered Species

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