Young elephants continue to fall victims to anti-personnel landmines in Burma/Myanmar
Wednesday, 26 July 2006
Young elephants continue to fall victims to anti-personnel landmines in Burma/Myanmar
Author(s): Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan <
> . Monday 03 July 2006
In the landmine infested forests along the border between Burma/Myanmar and Thailand, the casualty count includes elephants used for timber extraction.
On 9 June 2006 Mosha, a seven-month old calf was injured by a landmine while accompanying her mother who
Mosha, a seven-month old calf who lost her right foot to a anti-personnel landmine in Burma on 9 June 2006. Copyright Friends of the Asian Elephant Thailand.
was being used in logging activities. The incident happened across the border from Tha Song Yang, Thailand. The incident took place in forests contested by the Karen National Liberation Army, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, and forces of the ruling military junta. Dozens of civilians and combatants have been involved in landmine incidents in the area. It is unknown who laid the mine which injured the elephant, but some armed groups are known to surround their timber concessions with landmines to protect their resource base from attacks by military rivals.
Mosha receives medical care for her mine injury at the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand. Copyright Friends of the Asian Elephant Thailand.
Mosha lost up to three inches of her right front foot due to the blast of the anti-personnel landmine. Her left front leg also received minor shrapnel injuries. It took two days before the elephant calf could reach the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Hospital, a unique veterinary hospital for elephants in Lampang, northern Thailand. Despite her severe injury, Mosha continues to nurse from her mother.
Mosha nurses from her mother, while receiving treatment for her mine injury at the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand. Copyright Friends of the Asian Elephant Thailand.
Anti-biotics and pain relief medication are administered orally by crushing the medicine into powder and mixing it with fruit jam. The stump has been treated with anti-infection medicines.
Elephant landmine victims from Burma's landmine infested forests close to the Thai border have been reported by the Landmine Monitor report almost every year since 1999. While cross border transportation of timber is questionably legal, cutting of the forest in the border areas of Burma has consistently taken place for the past two decades. Elephants trained in timber extraction in Thailand work in the forests across the border, and some are injured or killed by anti-personnel landmines.
วารสารผู้ไถ่ 
แวดวงต่างประเทศ
