Female elephant “Ekhe” (Kum Huean), from Kanchananburi Province.

The owner donated the elephant to Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation.

Age (in the year 2012): 52 years old

Date of arrival for treatment: February 1998 (at age 38)

Condition: Wounds observed on the leg that had previously been broken. There were also wounds on various other areas around the body.

Background

“Ekhe” (Kum Heuan) was originally from Mae Hong Son Province. She was purchased and delivered to Kanchanaburi around the year 1987. The elephant came under the ownership of a monk who wanted to use Ekhe to build a temple on a mountain located in the Muang District of Kanchanaburi Province. At the time that Ekhe was purchased, her right back leg had already been broken from a previous incident. But even then, Ekhe still performed her duty in helping to build the temple.

Ekhe fell down the mountain, and sustained a large wound on the previously broken leg. She also sustained a wound on her right front foot, and there were wounds on many other areas of her body as well. Major General Kriangkrai Charoensiri, deputy director-general of the Territorial Defense Department (his rank at the time), happened to meet the elephant during his merit-making activities at the temple. He passed on the information to General Surapol Yudee who then notified the Secretary General of Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation. Arrangements followed thereafter for the elephant to be delivered to FAE Elephant Hospital in Lampang Province. FAE coordinated with the Office of the Governor of Kanchanaburi, requesting for cooperation in assigning a veterinarian from the Provincial Livestock Department to administer first aid treatment for the elephant. Following these preliminary procedures, the elephant was sent on her journey to FAE Elephant Hospital. Transportation of the elephant from the mountain down to smooth terrain took five hours; the operation was carried out with the assistance of a team of soldiers.

Treatment

The x-ray showed that the right back leg previously broken had bones that did not actually join together; those bones were in fact overlapping each other, and were only held together by connective tissue. The elephant, however, was able to use the foot of that particular leg to support her own weight to a degree.

During the early stages following her arrival at the hospital, she had some wounds that had come about from swelling. Those swollen areas had resulted from the elephant bumping against the surfaces of the truck throughout the course of her journey. The wounds were dressed, treated, and in time healed completely.    

Ekhe ate grass well and drank water well. Her excretory system functioned normally. Outwardly, her wounds fully healed. She became best friends with Auan, a pregnant elephant that came from the same temple. Ekhe did not like cold water. If there was anything she didn’t like, she would make “Erk, erk!” noises.

On 12 November 2012, Ekhe began to stretch her neck. She would stiffen her neck from time to time. And yet, she was still eating normally and defecating normally. Injections of antibiotics, pain relief, anti-inflammatory medicine, and vitamins were administered.

On the morning of 13 November 2012, Ekhe began to show signs of a nervous condition. She would occasionally lean forward. She would rest her head against a post. She would walk forwards fast, but walk backwards with difficulty. It was also difficult for her to use her trunk to hold her food. At times, her iris would not respond. (The elephant’s condition resembled the conditions of certain other patients who had received treatment at FAE Elephant Hospital — female elephants Kamnoi, Somsri, Bua Loy and Salee.)

Ekhe’s condition worsened. She wasn’t responding to treatment. On 7 December 2012, Ekhe was put to sleep so that her suffering could come to an end. Ekhe peacefully drew her last breath at 23.18 on 7 December 2012.