The ailing male Thai elephant, Sak Surin, is reportedly recovering well even though a veterinary team found five tumours on his thighs, said the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang province.
The 30-year-old elephant is currently under the care of the centre’s elephant hospital, having been flown home from Sri Lanka on July 2 after being kept there for 22 years.
The centre said the hospital ran health checkups and behavioural examinations on Sak Surin last week and found that he is recovering well.
The centre said Sak Surin’s daily intake is 120-200kg of food, mostly fresh grass and fruit, and his sleeping schedule lasts 1-3 hours twice a night, which is a decent sleeping cycle.
Sak Surin has reportedly grown familiar with the sound of his new mahouts and sometimes lets them ride him. But of concern, the physical examinations found five tumours with a 10cm radius on Sak Surin’s thighs and a mass with a 1cm radius on his right cornea. The elephant also has damaged toenails and cannot stretch or bend his front left leg.
Samples of blood, manure and tissue from his mouth and the trunk tip were collected for the Department of Livestock’s Veterinary Research and Development Centre on July 2.
Sak Surin’s blood or manure had no parasites (trypanosoma evans) lab results showed, and he does not carry tuberculosis genes, herpes viruses, antibodies to leptospira, non-structural protein from foot and mouth disease or B. abortus antibodies.
Sak Surin must be quarantined for at least 30 days and pass all regulated disease inspections on the 15th and 30th day of quarantine.