Elephant De-worming and Health Check-up
Today we had a visit from Dr. Pak and volunteers got to help with in-depth health check-ups. Volunteers measured the chest circumference and shoulder height of each elephant in order to calculate the weight. After the weight was calculated for each adult elephant the elephants were given a de-worming injection.
Dr. Pak decided to de-worm the elephants because other elephants in the surrounding area have been ill from round worms and intestinal worms. So while our biweekly health check-ups have found our elephants healthy and without worms, we decided to de-worm them as a precautionary measure.
Dr. Pak also took a blood sample from each elephant from a blood vein behind their ears. Boon Jan, being the lady that she is, was not a fan of the needles and gave Dr. Pak a hard time but eventually she was calmed down and we were able to give her the injections. On the other hand, Thong Dee didn’t appear bothered at all and took the needles like a champ.
Overall it was a successful morning and our elephants are lucky to have the best of both worlds: access to veterinary care and a wonderful life in the forest.
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