Mosha Gets A New Leg

Mosha, an Asian elephant, was only seven months old, when she hurt one of her legs. The injured animal was whisked to the Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital and Sanctuary in Lampang, Thailand for treatment.

At the hospital, the poor baby elephant limped around on her three legs, refusing to associate with other elephants or eat anything. The doctors were not only concerned about Mosha's health, but also, about the fact that as she grew bigger and heavier, she would not be able to sustain her weight on three legs and, would probably die.

Fortunately for Mosha, she met Dr. Therdchai Jivacate, who specialized in fitting prosthetic legs on human beings. While he had fitted over 16,000 prosthetic limbs on humans, the doctor had never made one for an elephant before.

However, he decided to give it a try - and designed one made from sawdust, plastic and metal. In 2007, Mosha, who became the first elephant to ever be fitted with a prosthetic limb, took to it right away.

The now three-year old Nellie, is growing so fast, that she recently had to be re-fitted with a bigger leg. Thanks to Dr. Jivacate, Mosha leads a normal life in the jungles of Northern Thailand , eating in excess of 200 lbs of food every day, exercising and taking naps, just like any other toddler!

Sources: BBCnews.com, Telegraph.co.uk