Motala 大象摩塔拉

Motala is 45 years old. She lives in Thailand, 500km north of Bangkok. Seven years ago, while Motala was working in the area between Thailand and Myanmar, she was hurt in a landmine accident. Her front, left foot was hurt so badly in the accident that it had to be taken off.

Losing a leg would make the life of anyone very hard. Add to that the fact that Motala is an elephant, and things quickly become even harder. The huge size and weight of elephants, as well as their not being able to tell the doctors what hurts, makes them very difficult patients.

But the animal doctors who helped Motala after the accident found a way to keep her walking anyway. They made an artificial foot for Motala. This foot, called a prosthetic, is the only one ever made for an elephant. In fact, many people say Motala is the most famous elephant in the world because she has such caring and hard-working doctors to help her be able to walk with a full set of feet.

 (Lynn Steger, Staff Writer)

摩塔拉今年四十五歲，住在泰國曼谷北方五百公里處。七年前她在泰國和緬甸邊界工作時，意外被地雷所傷，左前腳傷重截肢。

任何人失去一條腿，日子都會很難過，更別說摩塔拉是隻大象，情況更是快速惡化。大象的體型大又重，還無法告訴醫師哪裡痛，是非常麻煩的病人。

但是在意外之後，幫助摩塔拉的獸醫還是找到了讓她行動的方法。他們為摩塔拉做了一隻假腳。這隻稱為義肢的腳，是史上第一隻為大象製作的腳。事實上，有人說摩塔拉是世界上最出名的大象，因為她有充滿愛心和辛勤工作的醫生協助她用四隻腳走路。

(翻譯：鄭湘儀)