Som Neuk, the nearly 4 year old rescued Baby Elephant which was living in Luang Prabang “Elephant XL Camp” died a very sudden death on Saturday, 15 March. The Elephant died “probably due to incorrect medication” given about 10 days ago, the examining veterinary
surgeon Mr. Krisda Luangka (formerly of Thai Elephant Conservation Center – Chiang Mai) said today in an interview. According to his preliminary autopsy information the young Elephant died from internal bleeding and intoxication. The liver was destroyed and a natural cause of death seems very unlikely. The veterinarian and the camp management are waiting for final test results from the laboratory in Thailand.
The young and vital elephant was freed from an uncertain future last year and brought into the sanctuary to be raised with other elephants in a natural setting. The “Elephant Park Project” members and owner wished to give this baby elephant a brighter future without being taken for hard and brutal logging work in the forests of Laos!
Ten days before his death the young elephant was examined by a delegation from the non-profit
organisation ElefantAsia and a French veterinarian. According to their information the elephant
was sick and medication was given. Immediately after the death on 15. March, the same
veterinarian was called and visited the dead animal. The police and tourism authority officials
present during the visit can attest that the veterinarian from ElefantAsia only performed a visual
examination of Som Neuk, not enough for a professional diagnosis. Nevertheless, ElefantAsia
asserted the elephant died of “weakness and diarrhoea”. The findings of Mr. Krisda Luangka
from Thailand show that this is unlikely.
As elephants in Laos slowly vanish it is vital to keep the younger offspring healthy and provide
professional care. As younger elephants are getting more difficult to breed and raise to
adulthood this loss is tragic. Providing medical care is one of the main objectives of the
“Elephant park project” and “Elephant XL Camp” in Luang Prabang. This small but needless
accident shows us that constant and professional health care for elephants in Laos still needs
improvement, further supervision, and perhaps further international support.
All persons and organisations involved regret the death of the young Som Neuk!
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2 comments:
I find it hard to believe that the medication killed the elephant. Antihelminthics like Ivermectin cause neurological complications if anything, but not liver failure. Mebendozole (vermox) a broad spectrum antihelminthic, is so low in toxicity that it is an over the counter medication.
There are fool proof ways of calculating mg/kilogram which is the standard application in vet medicine. Both animals and humans tolerate a range of dosage outside the norm within reason.
For the elephant to succumb it would have to have been very ill beforehand and had massive numbers of worms. In that case it would be due to camp neglect, Elephants should be de-wormed every six months I believe. This is all documented in the handbook for camp managers.
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