Perhaps totally irrevelant, but I like elephants...

Thai Team Works to Save Trapped Elephant
The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 12, 2006; 6:38 PM

KHUN SONG, Thailand -- A rescue team armed with heavy machinery was working to save a 50-year-old elephant that slipped into a muddy ditch in the Thai jungle and couldn't get up, an official said Wednesday.

The five-ton elephant has been lying on its side since the fall last week inside the massive Khao Ang Rue-Ni wildlife sanctuary, which sprawls over parts of five provinces in eastern Thailand.

Its left hind leg was stuck in deep mud, caused by weeks of heavy rains, and the elephant was unable to lift itself because of a previous injury to its right rear leg that had rendered the animal partly lame, said Boonlue Poonnil, head of the wildlife sanctuary.

A dozen forestry workers and veterinarians have been unsuccessfully working to lift the pachyderm for days. They initially dug a hole around the beast with a backhoe and tried to scoop it up to its feet. Then they tried manpower to push the animal up.

Now they're planning to wrap a belt around its belly and lift it with a crane, which was expected to arrive Wednesday, Boonlue said.

To keep the elephant free of infection, the rescue team has been feeding it antibiotics and vitamins stuffed inside bananas.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071201566.html

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