Monday, July 16, 2012

Dhara Fights For Her Life

I'd like to introduce you to Dhara. She is an elephant calf from India. Dhara came to us on June 28th, said IFAW's Wildlife Rescue Center Veteranarian. Dhara is one of thousands of wild animals stricken by the deadly monsoon season we’re experiencing in the northeast Indian state of Assam. I may have already seen hundreds of baby elephants, but seeing our International Fund for Animal Welfare and Wildlife Trust of India veterinarians taking an x-ray image of an elephant calf was truly a rare sight.
Dhara is now being cared for at IFAW’s Wildlife Rescue Center in the outskirts of Kaziranga National Park. The x-ray showed that Dhara is suffering from a knee dislocation on her left front leg. She is about eight months old, and was found alone. We believe she was displaced from her herd during the floods in the park. An iron-reinforced cast was fixed on her leg to immobilize the joint for the next 21 days. The vets at the Center will review the wound after the stipulated time to see the progress.In the meantime the calf is being looked after by the vets, animal keepers and two volunteers from the UK. They provide the calf with milk nine times a day and a healthy dose of food supplements. Dhara is very active despite the pain in her leg. She always keeps on exploring the enclosure and tries to climb up to the window to peep through and see if there is someone out there with food. And when the food comes she starts shouting out impatiently. She looks awfully cute throwing baby tantrums to her keepers. Even though she’s just a little calf, I felt that it was an elephantine task to tranquilize it, transport it to the center’s clinic, X ray her and fit an iron cast on her leg. Now we’re all waiting for the 21st day of treatment when the vets will remove the cast to see the progress. I hope she regains her strength and is able to walk freely soon. Stay tuned for more updates on Dhara coming soon. Many have asked how they can help support our efforts, and you can do so by clicking the "Donations for Dhara" button on the right side of this blog. This article comes courtesy of IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare).