Today a team of wildlife officers
and a vet are on a special mission.
The veterinarian is preparing
to tranquilize a wild elephant
to treat a massive tumor
The Minister of Wildlife, Sri Lanka
is also involved in this mission
The team is ready to approach the
elephant after tranquilization
Even with tranquilization
approaching a wild elephant
has to be done with caution.
If the elephant panics,
he can cause fatal injuries
to us in a blink of an eye
Approaching a wild male elephant
further makes dangerous.
The tumor on the hind limb is so large and had
deformed the usual appearance of the limb
The vet examines the lesion before treating,
and keeps an eye on the giant's temperament at the same time
He seems to be sufficiently sedated
and the team proceed with the treatment.
As treating wild elephants is
performed in their natural habitat, the jungle
it is a huge challenge to treat them,
as most of the times,
all the instruments or medicine that is required
will not be available.
Furthermore, threats from other
wild animals such as snakes
make this a very challenging task
The minister helps in preparing an
antibiotic to be injected to the elephant
and injects it to the thigh muscles
of the elephants by himself,
under the supervision of the veterinarian
The veterinarian collects
a sample from the mass,
to perform further diagnosis.
At the same time, the rest of the team
treats all the wounds of the elephant.
The time that the tranquilizer
had bought them is not much,
and it is essential to do things at fast as possible.
The veterinarian prepares to
reverse the sedation,
and it is a very risky job.
As the elephant recovers
from the sedative, he
starts to move into the jungle.
It's tough, but a successful day at the end.
and we all wish him to recover soon.