The Phuket News 17 May 2019

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FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2019

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BABY JUMBO IS DEAD

NEWS

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LIFE

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Three-year-old Jumbo, pictured here at Phuket Zoo, where he was used to dance and perform tricks for tourists, has died. Photo: Moving Animals

INFANT ELEPHANT AMID INTERNATIONAL PLEAS FOR PROTECTION DIES FROM INFECTION Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter2@classactmedia.co.th

T

he Phuket Zoo baby elephant Jumbo, just three years old, has died from a digestive tract infection despite an international campaign calling for him to be taken into care for better protection. Jumbo was so weak that he collapsed under his own weight and broke both his back legs while trying to lift himself free from mud in a special area created for him where he could recover, explained Zoo Manager Pichai Sakunsorn. “Veterinarians from the Phuket Provincial Office of the Department of Livestock Development (DLD) advised us to keep a close eye on

his health because he was becoming weak from an infection. The vets came to check on him and provided him medical treatment, but he was not getting better. “His condition kept deteriorating, so he we had him taken to the Elephant Hospital in Krabi, where he was admitted on April 17,” he said. A staffer at the Elephant Hospital Southern Thailand in Krabi, operated by the National Elephant Institute, confirmed to The Phuket News this week that Jumbo died three days later. The staffer, who declined to be named publicly, confirmed that Jumbo was a legally registered elephant carrying microchip number 122767173A, born on Dec 8, 2015 and originally from Hua Hin.

“He was not able to stand and both his back legs showed swelling, so we had a vet x-ray his legs and found that both legs were broken,” the staffer explained. Jumbo has now been buried on hospital grounds, the staffer added. Phuket DLD Chief Manas Thepparuk confirmed that Jumbo was the same elephant that had previously been referred to as both ‘Dodo’ and ‘Ping Pong’. He apologised for the confusion. Suriya Tanthaweewong, the board director of Phuket Zoo Co Ltd involved with zoo operations, emotional on the phone, also confirmed, “We had only one baby elephant here at the zoo.” Mr Manas, when called by The

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Phuket News on Tuesday, said he was not aware that Jumbo had died. “I had been told that he was at the Elephant Hospital, and I thought that I would have been informed if Jumbo had died,” he said. Zoo Manager Mr Pichai, speaking openly about Jumbo, countered plainly, “I did inform the Phuket DLD about Jumbo’s death.” Now informed, Mr Manas told The Phuket News on Tuesday that his officers would investigate Jumbo’s death and take any legal action deemed necessary. A veterinarian at the Elephant Hospital involved in providing care for Jumbo explained that in her opinion Jumbo did not die of abuse or neglect. The vet also discounted elephant...

SPORT

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