Last week, we had a great pleasure to welcome 23 elephant veterinarians from all over Thailand to our elephant camp in Khao Sok. The experienced veterinarians and professors gathered together for “Elephant Medicine and Surgery: Best Practices Workshop”. To support this amazing initiative by Walailak University’s Veterinary Faculty, Elephant Hills provided the venue, accommodation, food, transportation and also covered other travel expenses for the participants.
Professor Rattapan from Walailak University holds an opening speech
The three-day workshop took place at The Elephant Café, overlooking the free-roaming area of our elephant camp. Needless to say, we were absolutely thrilled to have such a huge amount of knowledge and expertise under our roof! Naturally, our own vets also joined the event and were excited to meet colleagues and further improve their skills. It was truly encouraging to hear all the positive comments from the participants regarding our elephant camp.
Discussing the best practices on elephant medicine and surgery
The goal of the brainstorming was to start creating a best practices manual on elephant medicine and surgery. Hence, there were numerous topics discussed, ranging from common issues occurring in different body parts to pediatric and geriatric care, hematology and blood transfusion in elephants. Some diseases, such as Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) and tuberculosis where also covered.
Discussing common issues and treatment methods related to different body parts
Through our Elephant Conservation Project, we help the government run elephant hospitals in Thailand, and support areas affected by human-elephant conflict. By creating internship opportunities for veterinary students from Thai universities, we hope to play a part in increasing the students’ interest towards elephants. Consequently, hopefully in the future there will be more and more professionals working to benefit the Thai elephants, both domestic and wild populations.
With the morning mist still covering the mountains, the cheerful group of veterinarians is ready to start another day of brainstorming at The Elephant Cafe
At Elephant Hills, we try our best to constantly learn more about elephant husbandry and health care. We believe, that this is the only way forward when it comes to improving the welfare of our elephants. We are grateful for the information and support we have received over the years from the highly skilled Thai elephant veterinarians. Therefore, we didn’t hesitate when being asked to host this workshop.
Our sincere thanks to Walailak University and all elephant veterinarians who joined this successful event!
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