Jumbo leap: India opens first hospital for elephants

At India’s first hospital for elephants, opened last week in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, 49-year old Asha placed her left foreleg on a stool for a doctor to attend to an injury while visitors filmed it all on their mobile phones. (Source: Reuters)

The facility, armed with facilities such as wireless digital X-Ray, thermal imaging, ultrasonography, tranquilization devices and quarantine facilities, has not only come as a respite to the elephants but is also attracting local and foreign tourists. (Source: Reuters)

The hospital, inaugurated on Friday in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, is spread over 12,000 square feet and is designed to treat injured, sick or geriatric elephants. (Source: Reuters)

Elephants are an important part of India’s culture and are prominently displayed in festivals and processions in the south of the country. They are also used as tourist attractions at several forts and palaces in the northern and western regions. (Source: Reuters)

The hospital, on the banks of the Yamuna River, is close to an elephant conservation and care centre run by Wildlife SOS that is home to 22 elephants. (Source: Reuters)

Hundreds of elephants across the country, which accounts for more than half of Asia’s elephant population, are held in captivity and sharp metal hooks are often used to pinch and tease them into subordination, Reuters reported. (Source: Reuters)

A handler bathes Coconut, a female elephant, at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Center run by a non-governmental organisation in Mathura.(Source: Reuters)

Elizabeth Ritson, a tourist from Australia, told Reuters that she was glad there is a dedicated hospital now for elephants in India. (Source: Reuters)

India’s elephant population fell to 27,312 in 2017 from 29,391-30,711 in 2012, government data shows, according to Reuters. Source: Reuters)