News of an elephant made headlines this year after a shocking video was shared by Moving Animals that showed underfed animals being forced to dance to rave music even ¡®play¡¯ musical instruments in Phuket¡¯s Zoo in Thailand. The elephant is now dead.
The charity also launched a petition to rescue the elephant and place him in a nearby animal sanctuary, the petition quickly got 200,000 signatures. The elephant was branded as the ¡®real-life Dumbo¡¯.
Moving Animals now revealed that the elephant¡¯s back legs became so weak that they broke and he dies a week later.
Co founder of Moving Animals, said, "This is a tragic and horrific end to Dumbo's heartbreakingly-short life. His skeletal body clearly suggested that he was unwell and could be suffering from malnourishment and exhaustion. And yet the zoo did nothing until receiving international criticism.
Under their care, this baby elephant broke both of his back legs, and the zoo did not even realise for three days. I can't bring myself to imagine Dumbo's suffering during this time. For Dumbo to die whilst under the so-called 'care' and 'treatment' of the zoo shows just how neglected these animals are in captivity.
We hope that Dumbo is now finding the peace that he was so cruelly denied in his life, and that his tragic story will urge Thai authorities to finally put an end to these outdated animal performances."
The veterinary doctor who treated the elephant told The Phuket News, ¡°It was the worst¡±. The doctor also said ¡°It was a horrible accident after his front legs became stuck in some mud while he was holding himself up with his back legs on dry ground¡±.
She added, "First, he tried to lift himself out with his back right leg, but the bone was too thin and too brittle, and the stress on it caused it to break.?So, he tried to push himself out of the mud with his back left leg, and that broke, too."
Moving Animals - Facebook
The zoo staff said that they managed to get him out of the mud but they didn¡¯t know that his legs were broken. He was treated by the zoo¡¯s vet before being taken to the hospital.?Zoo manager, Pichai, told The Phuket News that he was 'deeply saddened' by the elephant's death.
He said, "Nobody wants to lose something they love. We did the best we could do to protect him.''
Rest in peace, buddy!?