Motala and Mosha: Landmine Victims Steppin’ Out on New Limbs
Motala, a 48-year-old female elephant, was fitted with a permanent prosthetic leg over the weekend. The elephant sparked international attention and sympathy when she lost part of her leg while working at a logging camp in 1999. The Asian elephant stepped on a landmine and due to her injuries, part of her front leg was amputated.
Sadly, the initial blood work performed on the injured pachyderm revealed that Motala had also been fed amphetamines to make her work longer and faster, an all-too common practice. Logging can be particularly dangerous for elephants. Besides logging, many elephants are also used to beg for food and money on the streets and as taxis.
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After several painful operations, Motala was finally fitted with her new leg on Saturday at the Friends of the Asian (FAE) Elephant Hospital in Thailand.
The hospital, the first of its kind, has treated thousands of elephants over the years. Soraida Salwala, founder of the Friends of the Asian Elephant, began the foundation in 1993.
Her life-long love of elephants began as a young child. Soraida and her father saw an injured elephant that had been hit by a truck. She asked to take the injured elephant to the doctor, but was told there was no one that could help the elephant. Leaving the scene, she heard a gunshot. That tragic event forever changed the life of Soraida Salwala.
The following video shows Motala with an earlier version of a limb:
Mosha
Mosha, another victim of a landmine explosion, was the 
world’s first elephant to be fitted with a permanent and adjustable artificial leg. She too, is at the FAE Elephant Hospital. Mosha, which means “The Star”, stepped on a landmine in Myanmar in 2006. She was just seven month old. The explosion completely shattered her right front leg.
Because the elephant is still growing, Mosha has outgrown several of her prosthetic legs. The custom-made limbs were made by the Prostheses Foundation.
The following video shows both Mosha and Motala:
The Eyes of Thailand
In order to raise awareness about the rapid decline of these magnificent creatures, a new film, The Eyes of Thailand, takes an in-depth look at the many issues surrounding the Asian elephant. The film is a 56-minute documentary that goes behind-the-scenes of the FAE Elephant Hospital. In 1993, there were about 40,000 Asian elephants in Thailand. Today, their population has significantly dwindled.
Visit the Eyes of Thailand blog for further information and updates.
Asian Elephants
Asian elephants, Elephas maximus, are considered Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Other threats to the species include poaching, habitat loss, degradation and human-elephant conflicts.
For more information, visit the Friends of the Asian Elephant website or Facebook website.
Motala and Mosha photographs courtesy of JodysJungle
Elephant eye photo AlexanderKlink via CC
[...] is a 48-year-old female elephant who lost her leg 10 years ago, while working in a logging camp. Ecowordly has several videos of earlier prosthetics for both Motala and Mosha, a 3-year-old elephant who lost [...]
Some of your pictures are not showing up..a shame..