An elephant in Thailand has been fitted with a prosthetic brace to make her more comfortable in her new “forever home” at a rescue and rehabilitation facility.
Elephant Nature Park on Saturday shared the accompanying photos of Mae Mai, the 31-year-old elephant, sporting a pink-and-purple brace constructed by Derrick Campana and his team at Bionic Pets.
The brace was fitted late last week. An Elephant Nature Park spokeswoman told ForTheWin Outdoors that Mae Mai is still adjusting while “walking slowly but with more confidence.”
In a Saturday Facebook post, the facility thanked Campana and the Gentle Giant Stay Home Project, and other supporters who are helping to ensure a comfortable existence for Mae Mai.
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Mae Mai is a former overworked logging elephant. After she suffered a broken hind leg, she became emaciated and fell into ill heath at a camp that was unable to provide her with adequate care.
In January 2021, she was walked from the camp along a river to Elephant Nature Park, where she was treated by veterinarians. She walked because she was too weak to step onto a truck (see photo below).
Mae Mai’s condition steadily improved and it wasn’t long before she began “to eat everything in front of her as if she never had food before,” the facility states on its website.
Now a permanent resident, and outfitted with the brace, Mae Mai is said to be walking free of pain.
“Look at how much better she looks now – and has become a bit of a fashionista, too, because of her leg brace,” reads one of dozens of comments beneath the Facebook post.
The Virginia-based Bionic Pets designs and constructs prosthetic devices and artificial limbs for animals large and small.