Best foot forward

Best foot forward

Lampang, Thailand
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The Thai-Myanmar border is still dotted with landmines left over from clashes between ethnic-minority rebels and the Myanmar army dating back decades.

Elephants Mosha and Motola lost limbs when they stepped on landmines. Recently Mosha received a new prosthetic leg at the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation hospital, while Motola had her prosthetic adjusted.

. Lampang, Thailand. Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

Mosha was just seven months old when she stepped on a landmine along the Thai-Myanmar border 10 years ago. She was rushed to an elephant hospital run by the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation in Lampang province in northern Thailand.

. Lampang, Thailand. Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

Two years later, surgeon Therdchai Jivacate gave her a new leg and a new life. As she has grown, he has designed new, longer and stronger legs for her.

"The way she walked was unbalanced and her spine was going to bend," Therdchai, 72, said of Mosha before receiving her latest leg. "She would have died."

. Lampang, Thailand. Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

Mosha, who weighed only 600 kg when she was given her first artificial limb, now weighs over 2,000 kg.

. Lampang, Thailand. Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

Founded in 1993, the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation hospital was the world's first elephant hospital and currently has 17 patients.

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. Lampang, Thailand. Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha
. Lampang, Thailand. Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha
. Lampang, Thailand. Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

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