Chhouk the elephant has successfully been fitted with a new prosthetic, an annual treatment that Wildlife Alliance has funded a couple of dozen times since Chhouk joined the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre (PTWRC) in 2007. Having been ensnared as a child, found alone and emaciated, Chhouk’s long road to recovery hasn’t been easy, but with the expert attention he daily receives his quality of life has continually improved. These prosthetics allow him to live as normally as an elephant in his situation can, and it’s a custom job for the artisans who craft this device. He’s the only elephant client of Exceed Worldwide, the prosthetic experts who’ve been working in partnership with Wildlife Alliance for years, and who continue to appreciate the significance and particularity of having Chhouk as a patient. Having spent most of his life battling the leg injury caused by his childhood encounter with a snare, Chhouk’s alignment and weight distribution are difficult for him to manage. Even after all of this time nothing can be taken for granted.

At the recent fitting, Chhouk initially seemed contented and to have adjusted well. Fresh from his daily inspection from the resident veterinarian and bandage (or “sock”) changing, Chhouk’s caretakers fit him with the freshly built prosthetic.

After the fitting he shifts his weight between legs, stretching, finding his stride. These prosthetics alleviate his palpable discomfort; if ever a person needed a visceral reminder of the damage snares do to all manner of wildlife, large and small, we can see Chhouk as embodying this misery of snaring, and poaching more broadly. Elephants are charismatic animals with emotional intelligence and a famously long memory; Chhouk may have a better quality of life now as he could hardly be better tended to, but this diligent attention can never compare to what his life could have been had he never been ensnared and left without part of his left foreleg.

Chhouk’s new fitting was going well for those first few minutes before a bolt of lightning breaks the tranquility of the morning, the sound of the prosthetic yielding to Chhouk’s extraordinary mass. His minders inspect and remove the new unit in which a crack is now visible.

Some of the Exceed technicians calmly tend to this matter-of-factly, which is to say it’s not easy being an elephant’s cobbler and one was must be dedicated. Custom jobs can require extra attention and adaptability, and this one certainly needs more than usual. Thankfully the Exceed team has been doing this for a while and came prepared. They explain that the challenges in designing a prosthetic for Chhouk stem from his weight and his evolving gait. The strongest and most comfortable materials are used for the prosthetic, but still, Chhouk pushes boundaries. Repairing and reinforcing the cracked piece is the logical approach, but not so simple in its implementation: more material means greater strength but also more weight for Chhouk to lift when walking, a different burden to put upon him. Expert design and craftsmanship meet the need.

For Chhouk’s changed way of walking, a rounded base is now being easier to manage as he doesn’t always place his feet perfectly flatly, and this shape doesn’t allow for any single point of pressure. Reinforcing the joints strategically strengthens the unit without adding too much more weight comparatively to the reinforcement. The repairs for this piece took about an hour for a couple of Exceed technicians to complete after which it was tried again. Total success this time. When challenges arise, perseverance will overcome them. As the lotus is the national flower of Cambodia with rebirth and resilience among its associations, lotus flower, or ‘Chhouk”, is an appropriate name for one who daily overcomes this elephantine disability.

If you wish to support our work and help meet Chhouk’s need, contributing to the $1,200 cost of a single prosthetic, please consider sponsoring him or one of our other animals here…Donate