Elephant better than TNT detection dog
Under the headline above I read an article in the NRC in which special characteristics are attributed to elephants. Elephants do a good job of avoiding the numerous landmines in parts of Africa. Elephants can smell landmines, or so the story goes.
Researchers from an African university and the US Army Research Office report how reliably and accurately trained elephants can detect landmines. Their sensitivity as a 'biosensor' is even higher than that of specially trained TNT sniffer dogs. Who knows, we might even find elephants at the airports, where dogs are currently used.
After reading this message, I had to think back to Motola the elephant who stepped on a landmine in the north of Thailand near the border with Burma and has been living on three legs in the elephant hospital in Lampang for many years.
Lampang
When I am in Chiangmai, a visit to the elephant hospital in Lampang and the Elephant Conservation Center located next to it is usually on the agenda.
This time I walk towards Motola with one of the ladies from the hospital to see the most famous Thai elephant up close again. However, it does not come to that, because suddenly there is a lot of excitement and we are asked to leave quickly. Wonder what's going on. I don't have to wait long for the answer. A truck enters the site with a pregnant elephant as cargo.
You don't experience such transport every day. At a safe distance I watch the tumult together with my supervisor. A lot of people come up in arms to get the beast out of the truck. Truly no sinecure where one proceeds very carefully. There is a danger that if the wrong approach is taken, the naturally benign lobbes can become aggressive, or so I hear.
Apparently, elephants are often transported this way because a kind of elephant unloading area has been built to make it easier to get out of the truck. (see photo) When the job is done I walk on and when I leave the complex my eyes fall on a large sign stating that the hospital has no affiliation with the adjacent Elephant Conservation Center. It seems a bit as if both institutions are at odds with each other. I don't know if my thoughts are true, but the suggestion is aroused. And that would be a pity and certainly not in the interest of our friend Jumbo.
The Conservation Center has been given a new look and you can learn a lot about the ups and downs of elephants in the beautiful cinema and exhibition room.
When I ask at the reception if there is also a kind of press folder with the many interesting facts that are highlighted here, one of the ladies immediately springs into action. After all, someone who wants to write a story for the readers of Thailandblog should treat it with all due respect. In addition, he also comes all the way from the Kingdom of The Netherlands and also represents the interests of Kingdom Belgium. But more about that in a future article.