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It was 2007 when Nick Marx from the Wildlife Alliance1 got the call. An injured elephant needed help. While the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Cambodia had been caring for injured and orphaned2 wildlife for many years， an elephant rescue didn’t happen very often. It would not be an easy task.
Nick headed out to the forests of the Mondulkiri Province with no idea that the animal he was about to rescue would change his life forever. Luckily， he found the injured elephant quickly. It was a young male， only about five hundred pounds. One of his front feet was badly injured.
Although Nick couldn’t be sure， the elephant had probably fallen victim3 to a snare4 trap5 that was left in the forests to catch various types of animals. The snare probably wrapped around the elephant’s foot tighter and tighter as he tried to escape. It got so tight that it nearly removed the entire foot.
The little elephant was scared and in pain. Nick used a tranquilizer6 dart7 to make the elephant go to sleep. That way the team could move him into a transport vehicle and take him back to the rescue center for treatment.
Once Nick was able to properly evaluate8 the elephant， he feared for his survival9. His foot was so severely infected10 that it had to be amputated11. The elephant was malnourished12， too.
Nick named the elephant Chouk， which means “lotus13 flower” in Cambodian. Over the next several weeks， Nick stayed with Chouk nearly every night. He made sure that he had food and was comfortable， and he changed his bandages14 several times a day to help clear the infection. As the weeks progressed， Chouk’s wound healed and he began to gain weight. He was a friendly and playful elephant， but he struggled to walk with his missing foot.
Chouk would not have a good quality of life with only three limbs15. The more time he spent walking on three legs， the more his body would compensate16 for this change. Soon his body would start changing permanently17 to make up for the disability. Nick could already see changes in the growing elephant.
But what could the Wildlife Alliance do？
Nick had an idea. Maybe he could make a prosthetic18 limb that would replace Chouk’s missing foot. He searched to see if anything like this had been done before， but no one had ever created a prosthetic for an elephant. Nick researched several organizations that made and designed prosthetics for humans and was lucky to find one not far away， the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics19. Nick contacted the school， and soon after， some of the staff came to the Centre to meet Chouk. The students and professors from the school examined Chouk’s injured limb， took measurements， and made a plaster20 cast21 of Chouk’s leg. After talking with Nick， they were confident that they could design a new foot for Chouk that would allow him to once again walk on all four of his legs.
Designing and making the prosthetic was going to be very costly， and the rescue center already spent all of its resources on food and the care of the animals. Nick needed help and support from someone to pay for Chouk’s treatment and training. He contacted the SeaWorld
Nick headed out to the forests of the Mondulkiri Province with no idea that the animal he was about to rescue would change his life forever. Luckily， he found the injured elephant quickly. It was a young male， only about five hundred pounds. One of his front feet was badly injured.
Although Nick couldn’t be sure， the elephant had probably fallen victim3 to a snare4 trap5 that was left in the forests to catch various types of animals. The snare probably wrapped around the elephant’s foot tighter and tighter as he tried to escape. It got so tight that it nearly removed the entire foot.
The little elephant was scared and in pain. Nick used a tranquilizer6 dart7 to make the elephant go to sleep. That way the team could move him into a transport vehicle and take him back to the rescue center for treatment.
Once Nick was able to properly evaluate8 the elephant， he feared for his survival9. His foot was so severely infected10 that it had to be amputated11. The elephant was malnourished12， too.
Nick named the elephant Chouk， which means “lotus13 flower” in Cambodian. Over the next several weeks， Nick stayed with Chouk nearly every night. He made sure that he had food and was comfortable， and he changed his bandages14 several times a day to help clear the infection. As the weeks progressed， Chouk’s wound healed and he began to gain weight. He was a friendly and playful elephant， but he struggled to walk with his missing foot.
Chouk would not have a good quality of life with only three limbs15. The more time he spent walking on three legs， the more his body would compensate16 for this change. Soon his body would start changing permanently17 to make up for the disability. Nick could already see changes in the growing elephant.
But what could the Wildlife Alliance do？
Nick had an idea. Maybe he could make a prosthetic18 limb that would replace Chouk’s missing foot. He searched to see if anything like this had been done before， but no one had ever created a prosthetic for an elephant. Nick researched several organizations that made and designed prosthetics for humans and was lucky to find one not far away， the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics19. Nick contacted the school， and soon after， some of the staff came to the Centre to meet Chouk. The students and professors from the school examined Chouk’s injured limb， took measurements， and made a plaster20 cast21 of Chouk’s leg. After talking with Nick， they were confident that they could design a new foot for Chouk that would allow him to once again walk on all four of his legs.
Designing and making the prosthetic was going to be very costly， and the rescue center already spent all of its resources on food and the care of the animals. Nick needed help and support from someone to pay for Chouk’s treatment and training. He contacted the SeaWorld