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Sanctuary to rehabilitate “unemployed” elephants
The sanctuary will also provide care for orphaned or injured wild elephants.

Elephants Lake will help former logging animals

A sanctuary is under construction in Myanmar, South East Asia, to prevent “unemployed” elephants from being killed or having to suffer as tourist attractions.

International animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS said that logging restrictions and bans on exports in Myanmar have seen some 1,000 elephants rendered “jobless”. In the 17,000-hectare ‘Elephants Lake’, veterinary surgeons and experts will rehabilitate former logging elephants and get them ready for life in the wild.

For decades, severely abused elephants in Myanmar have been used to help with felling and carrying heavy tree trunks. But since the introduction of strict environmental regulations, the demand for teak has diminished, leaving around 1,000 elephants effectively redundant.

“It sounds harsh, but for their owners, the elephants are now useless and on top of that a financial burden,” explains FOUR PAWS vet and project leader Dr Amir Khalil. “The animals are therefore either killed or sold to the tourism industry.

'Unfortunately, elephant riding is still a fun holiday activity for a lot of people. These magnificent, endangered animals do not deserve death or an equally cruel career change. At our first elephant sanctuary in the Bago Region, the animals can recover from the exertions of their past and, ideally, be reintroduced to the wild.”

In addition to ex-logging elephants, the sanctuary will also provide care for orphaned or injured wild elephants. With an on-site orphanage and mobile clinic, the sanctuary aims to bring together new prides and later release them into a nearby forest reserve.

When built, Elephants Lake will be one of the largest elephant sanctuaries in Southeast Asia. It is expected to take in its first influx of elephants at the end of 2018 and hopes to rehabilitate around 300 over the next 10 years. 

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Vets to run marathon for World Animal Protection

News Story 1
 Two recently graduated veterinary surgeons will be running the London Marathon in April to raise money for the charity World Animal Protection.

Alex Bartlett and Maeve O'Neill plan to run the race together if they are given the same start times.

Dr O'Neill said: "You're always limited in what you can do to help animals, so it is nice to raise money for a charity that helps animals around the world."

Dr Bartlett added: "I have never run a marathon before and am excited to run my first one for such a good cause!"

Both Dr Bartlett and Dr O'Neill have fundraising pages online. 

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News Shorts
BSAVA releases new Guide to Procedures

The British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) has published a new edition of its Guide to Procedures for Small Animal Practice.

It has added four new procedures; cystostomy tube placement, endotracheal intubation, point-of-care ultrasound and wet-to-dry dressings.

BSAVA says that it is an essential step-by-step guide to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed in practice. The textbook includes new images and illustrations, as well as high-definition videos for use prior to procedures.

Nick Bexfield and Julia Riggs, editors of the new edition, said: "We have built upon the success of the previous editions by responding to the feedback received from the BSAVA readership, and hope this new guide helps to further increase the confidence and accuracy with which these procedures are performed."

Print copies are available in the BSAVA store, with a digital version in the BSAVA library.