A team of farmers visited this area for a routine check-up for their fields, and that’s where they spotted the injured elephant. They informed wildlife officers to rescue this giant.
One of the main reasons for the Asian Elephants to be endangered is poaching. A shot at the right place can cause death even to massive giants like elephants. Sometimes, people tend to use snares with a gun set up to shoot showers of bullets to catch elephants and hunt other wild animals such as wild boar and deer for meat and other purposes. At times, elephants become unfortunate victims by getting caught in these snares.
This elephant from Sri Lanka has also faced such an unfortunate incident and has several gunshot wounds. A team of wildlife officers, together with veterinarians, go on a mission to locate and treat this innocent giant. Even though these wounds are not life-threatening to a massive animal like an elephant, infection of these wounds can even lead to fatal septic conditions unless treated promptly.
But, to treat these feral giants needs to be sedated for the safety of the humans who treat them.
It is unwise to approach any wild elephant without proper restraint, usually sedation, as even minor attacks can easily be fatal blows.
Above all, male elephants are much more aggressive than females, and proper restraining must be assured before reaching it.
The veterinary team of the wildlife department approaches the giant with caution and starts their treatment.
Afterward, the wounds were cleaned and treated accordingly, using appropriate antibiotics to prevent microbial infections.
The drug doses required for elephants are way higher than those given for other animals.
Thus, preparations available in the market are not sufficient alone. Therefore, multiple shots from the same drug are given to provide the correct dose for the animal.
This elephant is getting a cocktail of medicine consisting of antibiotics to fight the infection.
The wild is not a sterile environment; therefore, maintaining these deep wounds is difficult as their likelihood of getting contaminated is very high. Thus, the wildlife officials will have to keep an eye on the giant until his injuries are fully recovered.
Treating a bullet wound is possible; however, it is our responsibility to empathize and help protect the wildlife from our insidious activities.
