CHONBURI, Thailand (Reuters) – A three-month-old baby elephant was recovering in Thailand on Thursday following lifesaving treatment after being shot several times and caught in a hunter’s trap.
The elephant, whom rescuers have named “Fahsai”, meaning “clear sky”, was found by passers-by in eastern Thailand on Sunday with her right foot caught in a trap and gunshot wounds to her shoulder.
“We managed to extract a large fragment of a bullet, followed by two smaller pieces,” said veterinarian Padet Siridumrong.
Fahsai’s wounds will have to be tended to daily until she is strong enough to undergo surgery to extract remaining bullet fragments.
She will be given milk from other mother elephants at the Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Chonburi province before a foster-mother elephant is found to adopt her.
(Additional reporting by Artorn Pookasook and Athit Perawongmetha; Writing by Juarawee Kittisilp and Martin Petty; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
