The baby elephant with carer, Adiey Jaumin or Ranger Abah. The picture was taken when she was healthier.
KOTA KINABALU: A baby elephant, affectionately named Nita by the staff of Borneo Elephant Sanctuary in Kinabatangan, had to be euthanised due to serious complications of injuries she suffered prior to her rescue some 20 months ago.
“Nita was an elephant calf rescued by the Wildlife Rescue Unit at only a month-old in an oil palm estate in Tawau. It is believed that its herd left it behind during an elephant control operation conducted by the authorities as she could not keep up with the herd.
“The calf had sustained injuries and wounds that needed to be treated, hence it was brought to the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary,” said Director of Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) Augustine Tuuga.
“Earlier this year, Nita was seen limping in her enclosure and radiographs were taken.
“Unfortunately her previous fractures were aggravated as images revealed there were broken bones and Nita was diagnosed with bilateral supracondylar fracture. The vets did a procedure to put fiber glass cast on the limb hoping to repair the fracture.
“A team of orthopaedic specialists from Hospital Duchess of Kent Sandakan was also consulted,” added Tuuga.
Despite the intensive care given, Tuuga said Nita’s condition was not improving and got worse to the extent it was severely compromising her welfare.
The fractures she attained were beyond repair.
“The vets had to make the hardest decision to end her misery. We grieve for the loss of such a sweetheart,” said Tuuga in a statement yesterday.
SWD assistant director Dr Sen Nathan in his Facebook status said, “These are the things that give us wildlife veterinarians sleepless nights… knowing that as much as we tried our best…sometimes we lose some battles,” he said.
Dr Sen was one of SWD officers that has been attending to Nita’s injuries.
The post Injured elephant calf euthanised due to serious complications appeared first on Borneo Post Online.